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Eskom says its Key Revision Number (KRN) pre-paid meter roll-over project was successful, with the consumer base increasing to more than 7 million and around 400,000 zero buyers becoming paying customers.
The power utility said on Wednesday that all users who went out and bought electricity and experienced issues before the deadline can still be helped.
This comes after Eskom set a deadline of 8:15pm on Sunday, 24 November 2024.
Starting off with a customer base of 6.91 million prepaid customers, Eskom said all customers have been converted to KRN 2.
It said a data cleaning exercise fully updated the incomplete details of 341,000 customers to bring Eskom’s base to 7.25 million.
“As of 24 November 2024, approximately 5.5 million customers, which includes the around 400,000 zero buyers who have become paying customers, have successfully rolled over and are transacting on KRN 2.”
According to Eskom, a decrease in the zero buyer numbers has been seen from the previous 12-month rolling average of 2.1 million to around 1.7 million.
“We request these customers to do what is right by Friday, 13 December 2024, by visiting their nearest Eskom sites.”
The power utility said zero buyers who bought electricity tokens before the deadline of 24 November 2024 and cannot load must come back to Eskom centres by Friday, 13 December 2024.
Monde Bala, Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution, said in the past ten days, zero buyers came forward in huge numbers wanting to buy electricity and do the right thing.
“We will continue to treat these users with dignity and respect as we resolve these issues for all of them who did the right thing. We acknowledge also that this was a complex process presenting a challenging set of issues and was at times fraught, and we continue to monitor and stabilise the system to ensure a smooth customer experience,” he said.
Bala said Eskom is grateful to its staff who worked throughout the weekend to help customers.
“We also thank various leaders of society including councillors, our stakeholders in communities, and the different media houses across the country who assisted with the efforts,” said Monde Bala, Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution.
Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive of Eskom, said not only has this technology changeover brought Eskom around 400,000 previous zero buyers, but it has also provided the power utility with a wealth of data to bring further zero buyers into legitimately purchasing electricity.
“Eskom is doing everything that is practically possible to make users of electricity pay for it in the interest of those who already pay for electricity, maintain the sustainability of Eskom to drive the economic growth of South Africa, and reduce our burden on the taxpayer,” said Marokane.
Eskom has requested that paying customers who are experiencing issues should first to use Alfred the Chatbot, Eskom Contact Centre: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) on 08600 37 566, and WhatsApp using 087 741 1922.
Eskom also recommends the following actions to be taken:
THE MERCURY
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