Smart Meters, Smarter Grids: The Future of Electricity and Water in South Africa
South Africa’s electricity and water systems are under pressure. Ageing networks, rising demand, and mounting municipal debt are forcing a rethink of how utilities are planned and paid for.
This rethink is already visible in policy. As reported in Engineering News in September 2025, the National Treasury’s smart electricity meter grant has funded 67,000 installations in the first wave across selected municipalities, with thousands more planned as part of a multi-year, R2 billion rollout. Treasury optimistic R2bn smart-meter scheme can help arrest Eskom arrear debit crisis notes that this was in response to “municipality arrear debt” owed to Eskom breaching the R100-billion mark.
At the same time, Eskom is accelerating its own smart meter programme. It aims to replace millions of conventional meters by 2029. At the same time, water utilities are preparing for a national transition to smart water metering using low-power IoT networks.
READ MORE: https://www.idealprepaid.com/ohpp/articles/a17-ps-2025-12-28smartmeters-thefutureofmetering
