Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has confirmed that electricity smart meters installed by power utility Eskom are equipped with technology that notifies the utility if the meters are being bypassed.

In response to a Parliamentary question by the Democratic Alliance’s Natasha Mazzone, he pointed out that fully fledged smart meters are installed in Sandton and Midrand, while split meters with communication systems are installed in Soweto.

The fully fledged smart meters provide a signal when bypassed, but then go offline. Staff members are sent out to investigate, as there are no real-time monitoring systems.

The installations in Soweto, meanwhile, only provide a signal if there is tampering with the meter, but the system has to be interrogated on a regular basis to check for tampering, as there is no real-time monitoring.

The Minister conceded that, while the smart meters in Soweto are installed in cubicles, these are continuously vandalised and, in many cases, staff are prevented from repairing faults. This prevents information being sent through the communications network to the system for fraud detection.

There are plans to install a Meter Data Management System that will have full control of the smart meter and provide real-time monitoring.

Such a system will allow customers to buy electricity online and view their electricity use, as well as enable Eskom to see use patterns and disconnect meters over nonpayment.

Meanwhile, Mazzone also asked the Minister whether Eskom had put any measures in place to address the issue of nonpayment by municipalities.

Eskom indicated to the Department of Public Enterprises that measures had been put in place to address this issue.

In this regard, Eskom has an electricity supply agreement (ESA) with each of the municipalities that it supplies electricity to in bulk. The ESA specifies the terms and conditions and obligations of the parties.

On July 1, 2017, Eskom granted a concession to the municipalities that allows them to pay their bulk electricity account within 30 days from the date that it becomes due and not within 15 days, as was the case previously. This concession, however, excludes metropolitan municipalities.

The concession was made to allow the municipalities more time to collect their revenue before they had to pay Eskom.

Should the municipality not pay their account on time, Eskom implements credit control measures that could result in the municipality’s electricity supply being disconnected. The Eskom process also makes provision for municipalities to enter into a repayment plan over a period of time.

Should the municipalities fail to enter into such an agreement or fail to honour the terms of such an agreement, Eskom initiates an administrative process in line with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act before the supply to the municipality can be terminated.

Under the ESA, Eskom may disconnect the supply to the municipality completely; however, owing to the impact on customers and the economy, Eskom has opted to only interrupt supply for limited hours of the day.