There is exactly one year left before all the non-updated prepaid electricity meters in the world stop functioning on the same day. Experts are concerned that many South African municipalities are yet to start doing anything about it.
All 70 million prepaid electricity meters in the world, including the more than 11 million meters in South Africa, have a built-in expiry date on 24 November 2024 owing to a date rollover problem.
The issue is entirely avoidable if every meter is "updated" by inserting two unique 20-digit key revision numbers into every meter.