Eskom stands to lose R2 billion a month and R24 billion a year if those who have not recoded their prepaid meters don’t present themselves to the power utility.
That was the warning Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa sounded on Wednesday as the number of people who illegally consumed electricity and have not converted to the new Key Revision Number 2 (KRN 2) prepaid meters programme, went down from 2.1 million to 1.7 million by the Sunday deadline.
“We know an average household in a low-income area consumes on average R1 200 of electricity per month. If you take the 2.1 million not paying that’s R1200 per month; Eskom alone has been losing, per month, R2.5bn. If you compute that over a year, Eskom is losing R30bn on this category,” he said.
“Now that the number has gone to 1.7 million people, if they don’t get to present themselves, Eskom will lose R2bn per month and it will go, of course, to R24bn per annum,” he said when he provided an update on the rollover programme.
Eskom announced that 7.25m customers, including the 341 000, whose incomplete details were updated after a data cleaning exercise, were converted to the KRN 2 programme.
On Sunday, about 5.5 million customers, including about 400 000 “zero buyers” who are now paying customers, were converted.
Ramokgopa said Eskom will now receive R400m from those who previously had not paid.
“That will be going to the kitty of helping us to secure the grid, refurbish and replenish the distribution infrastructure and we don’t get to a situation where people experience load reduction,” he said.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane hailed the technology changeover that saw 400 000 “zero buyers” become paying customers.
“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,” Marokane said.
Ramokgopa said people yet to recode their meters have until December 13 to present themselves.
“This includes ‘zero buyers’ and paying customers who experienced difficulty after they bought electricity before the deadline.
“However, those who consumed electricity legally will pay a fine.
“We do accept that it is an onerous obligation of about R6 000 that gets to be split over a period of 12 months and a customer pays R500 a month to cushion the blow over a period of 12 months,” he said.
Ramokgopa called on those among the affected consumers experiencing genuine glitches to come forward.
“If we allow this situation to continue it means Eskom will not be in a position to fulfil its obligations.
“We know now municipalities find it difficult to fulfil their obligations. “They can't pay their account to Eskom as a result of people who choose not to pay.”
Municipalities currently owe Eskom a collective R90bn in debt and were in turn owed R340bn as at July.
“We know the municipal system is not as robust as Eskom. The losses of municipalities is double that of Eskom’s one. Municipalities could be losing R60bn per annum as a result of people who choose not to pay,” Ramokgopa said.
He confirmed that there was a relationship in the concentration of people not paying and load reduction as the affected areas were inundated with KRN 2 programme glitches.
“What that reveals in those areas is there are people who diligently pay but are subjected to load reduction because they share infrastructure.
“We hope through this exercise we will be in a position to prevail and ensure people are able to pay their dues and those who are not in a position, we have dispensation to help.”
Ramokgopa indicated that the real victims of those who chose not to pay were the paying customers as they paid double for their own consumption and a tariff built to cover the losses due to those not paying.
Eskom’s financial woes have been laid bare during the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) public hearings. Eskom is applying for total revenues of R446 billion for FY2026, R495bn for FY2027, and R537bn for FY2028.
This translates to proposed average price increases for Eskom direct customers of 36.15% (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026), 11.81% (April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027) and 9.10% (April 1, 2027, to March 31, 2028).
Nersa will make the decision on the revenue Eskom can receive following its own analysis and the public consultations across the country.
Cape Times