The City of Johannesburg's (CoJ's) electricity utility City Power will upgrade smart electricity meters, or replace older meters, as the token identifier system, which is the current prepaid electricity voucher system, will run out of voucher sequences for the unique tokens produced specifically for each meter by November 24, 2024.

The token identifier system is a security measure that ensures a token can only be used once and for the meter number it was bought for. Tokens bought after November 24 next year will not be recognised by the current prepaid meters, which have been installed since 1993, says CoJ environment and infrastructure services MMC Michael Sun.

“This is a system-linked limitation and not unexpected. However, recent articles published in the media have caused quite a panic in the public space. We certainly do not want to scramble at the last minute and want to ensure that prepaid electricity customers continue to receive services when the new system kicks in towards the end of 2024,” he says.

“When the time comes, the prepaid meters will stop accepting new credit tokens and will then stop dispensing electricity after the existing credits are used up,” said Sun.

Any tokens generated after this date, and using the 24-digit number, will be rejected by the meters as being old tokens.

“I urge customers with affected meters in Johannesburg to cooperate with the City Power officials when they arrive on your premises to upgrade or replace your meters,” he says.

Importantly, Sun urges residents to always ask City Power technicians to present their appointment cards. A City Power official can be identified by a staff card, which will have the name of the official, the identiity number of the official and the department the official is from.

Further, the appointment cards also have an expiry date written on a colour-coded strip. Blue denotes permanent employees, green identifies meter readers, purple denotes contractors, red identifies cut-off teams and black identifies interns or temporary staff.

“On the back of the card is a hologram of City Power’s Firefly logo and the contact numbers for the Risk Team, should residents want to verify the staff member’s identity number,” Sun points out.

Citizens can also call 011 490 7900/7911/7553 for assistance.