Eskom-City Power smart meter hard sell
By
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October 18, 2023
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Me just thinking aloud. Go easy on me, I plead!
I have been constantly hearing and reading stories about Eskom
and City Power contemplating, or are already in the process of,
installing Smart Meters all over ekasi, whether we like it or not.
Methinks that this is not a wise move at all. It is bound to fall on its
face before it is even launched. That is my two cents’ worth. Facts
speak for themselves though.
Eskom and City Power are infamous for not doing things by the
book. To start with, their customer service stinks to high heaven.
The end user is always sent from pillar to post whenever they
bring their gripe about poor service. They are treated indifferently
by those behind the help desks at walk-ins or call centres.
A good service provider should always know that “Customer is
King”. A customer always wants the best value for their money.
Ordinary folks ekasi want reliable and uninterrupted electricity
supply service to help them cope with their daily existence. And
when there are issues with the service rendered, they need to
know who to turn to – to have their problems resolved.
The thinking behind this apathic treatment of customers is based
on the fact that township residents do not want to pay for
electricity or any service, for that matter. The opposite is true.
Umphakathi has no qualms about paying for basic amenities.
Provide good service and they will meet you halfway.
As things stand, expecting good service from Eskom or City
Power is like wringing water from a stone. Both of them
bazokuHurder!
With the proposed new system, both service providers are trying
to strike fear into the hearts of abahlali that their electricity supply
will be switched on and off remotely through a smart meter
system that will be installed in each house. This is intended to
make customers use power sparingly, so we are told.
Through smart meters, electricity guzzlers like your geysers,
stoves and other essential power points will be turned on and off
from a control centre, if both distributors feel that the grid is
overloaded at any given time. You will only be able to use
minimum power to run your lights, a TV set and a Wi-Fi router.
Convince me otherwise, this is make-believe.
Officials from both these service providers are doing their
damnedest to try and persuade us that they mean well with this
hard sell. If people on the ground soon find out that this is nothing
but a scam, Eskom and City Power are courting danger.
We all are aware that the country is in the throes of a power crisis,
most of which is self-made. Regular power outages wreak havoc
in every aspect of our daily existence.
So, with this smart meter nonsense, are you not compounding the
already existing problem? Proponents of this scheme will be left
with egg on their faces as this will further agitate the gatvol end
user.
This extravagant and wasteful expenditure project, if
implemented, will cause an angry backlash from those on the
receiving end of this high-voltage equation.
Look around you, the electricity supply infrastructure leaves much
to be desired. It is in tatters, to say the least.
Street lights, substations and transformers are vandalised on a
daily basis and power cables stolen left, right and centre as
izinyoka and scrapyard owners rule the roost.
How do you introduce this new technology, and hope it will work
seamlessly under such conditions?
First things first, do a feasibility study to determine whether what
you are intending to do [installing smart meters in this instance] is
technically viable, and local communities buy into your idea.
Clean up the mess, fix what is broken and make sure your ducks
are in a row before you roll out your proposed plan. Your plan
should be fool-proof and do not ram it down people’s throats.
I am not convinced that this project has all the good intentions it
purports. It has all the hallmarks of a gimmick used by greedy
tenderpreneurs to “loot the gravy train” written all over it. So, I will
not buy into this smart meter claptrap. It is a damp squib.
It looks like a money-spinning attempt by the fat cats to “eat” and
line their pockets one last time. Phela, 2024 is just around the
corner, and these people need to have something to fall back on
when they find themselves in the political wilderness.
Mzansi, open your eyes and see this for what it is: the higher-ups
are trying to sell us a pig in a poke.
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