City of Cape Town energy and communication teams have received various accolades for their energy programmes, customer communication on energy and staff working in the field, again acknowledging Cape Town as a city of excellence in South Africa. Read more below:
The City’s management of the implementation of the national prepaid meter software update programme, finishing the updates well ahead of the national November 2024 deadline, received a coveted Top Performing Metro Award during the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) 2024 convention. City energy and communication teams also received a bronze title in the coveted Prism public communication awards.
The national prepaid electricity meter software update instruction was launched in September 2021 with the deadline of updating all existing prepaid meter software in South Africa before 30 November 2024. The City had the task of updating a mammoth 570 000 meters across the metro. The deadline was reached well ahead of the cut-off date due to a perfect combination of operational and customer-centric communication excellence and the support of the City’s customers.
The programme and associated communication campaign ran for three years and it was all handled by internal teams. Due to the sheer volumes of meters in the Cape Town metro supply, the highest number of all other municipalities in the country, operational teams could provide back-up assistance, but customers needed to have the confidence to update their meters, and trust the City’s processes.
‘We are so proud of the work that has been put into this from our excellent energy teams that has resulted in almost 100% of City customers having updated meters.
‘During the AMEU awards ceremony, Energy Directorate members of staff, Thandeka Tshabalala and Rebecca Cameron were awarded joint winners of the Top Performing AMEU Women in Electricity category. What a proud moment for Cape Town. Thandeka currently leads the City’s energy poverty alleviation work within the Sustainable Energy Markets Department, while Rebecca led the development of the City’s progressive Energy Strategy. Well done to these worthy recipients. It is so important to have representation of women in the rapidly evolving energy sector as we work toward a more inclusive space for access to electricity for all, more diversified, cleaner and more affordable energy sources and greater energy security. With this team at the helm, we are certainly moving to create the future-fit city required to tackle the challenges ahead,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg.
The AMEU also bestowed the great honour of Honorary Membership for his dedication and contribution to the AMEU to Dr Les Rencontré, the City’s former Director for Electricity Generation and Distribution.
Note to readers:
There were/are two meter-related programmes:
| NATIONAL METER SOFTWARE UPDATES COMPLETED | CITY OF CAPE TOWN PREPAID METER REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME UNDER WAY |
| When making a purchase, customers received long codes to update their own meter software.
All updates done way ahead of the national schedule. |
Replacing old single and three-phase electricity credit meters and prepaid meters with new prepaid meters in City-supplied suburbs. The replacement is free of charge and the new meter will ensure more accurate readings, greater usage control and cost management. The replacement is compulsory as the meters belong to the City of Cape Town. There is a schedule of areas being visited in a phased approach.
There is no difference in the cost of electricity between the old credit and new prepaid meters as the meters only measure usage. |
| · STS Association: https://www.tidrollover.com/ | • https://resource.capetown.gov.
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Caption 1: Dr Les Rencontré, technical specialist Energy Directorate, and former Director of Generation and Distribution.
Caption 2: Thandeka Tshabalala, Senior Professional Officer, Sustainable Energy Markets.
Caption 3: Rebecca Cameron, Principal Professional Officer, Sustainable Energy Markets.
