Ezulwini- More than 5 000 customers have been brought onto the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) prepaid metering system, as the utility steps up efforts to expand the programme nationwide.
Speaking during the” Konkhe Nga Water” campaign launch on Tuesday, EWSC Manager of ICT Innocent Mkhombe said the prepaid system is aimed at giving customers greater visibility and control over their water consumption and expenditure.
Unlike the conventional billing model, where customers may only discover high consumption once a bill is issued, the prepaid system allows users to monitor their usage in real time and receive alerts when consumption rises unusually.
Mkhombe said the initiative should therefore be understood as more than simply replacing existing meters, as it changes how customers manage and budget for their water use. Customers using the system buy water units upfront and can track how quickly those units are being consumed. This gives households an opportunity to adjust their usage according to their available budget and consumption needs.
EWSC is rolling out the programme in phases, with installations already completed in a number of communities. More areas are expected to be covered as the Corporation continues with the expansion.
The utility had originally envisaged completing the rollout over a five-year period. However, Mkhombe said the progress made so far had prompted EWSC to speed up implementation, with the target now being to achieve nationwide coverage within three years.
The prepaid system is also being positioned as part of EWSC’s efforts to help customers manage their disposable income more effectively. Under the traditional billing arrangement, a customer may only realise that water consumption has increased significantly after receiving a monthly bill. Prepaid metering provides an opportunity to identify such changes much earlier and take corrective action.
The initiative forms part of EWSC’s broader digital transformation and customer-service drive, which includes digital payment platforms, the EWSC App, Temanti and USSD services.
EWSC has also incorporated prepaid metering into its “Konkhe NgaWater” campaign, which promotes responsible water consumption while encouraging customers to make use of technology to manage their water services. With the number of prepaid customers now exceeding 5 000, EWSC views the uptake as an early indication of the programme’s progress as it works towards extending the system across the country.
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