The smart modernisation of municipal electricity and water services continues

Vodacom Business is helping drive the modernisation of municipal electricity and water services across South Africa through its participation in National Treasury’s RT29-2024 transversal contract – a 36-month initiative that runs until the end of May 2027.

The programme is having a measurable impact on smart infrastructure deployment, service delivery and local job creation.

Through RT29 projects, approximately 650 jobs were created by FY2026, up from around 500 in FY2025, while smart water meter deployments increased to approximately 147 600 from 137 600 the previous year.

Working alongside Ontec and Macrocomm, Vodacom Business is helping participating municipalities to deploy smart technologies that:

Improve the accuracy of utility readings;
Provide greater visibility across electricity and water networks; and
Quickly identify issues such as leaks, losses, tampering and illegal connections.

Vodacom Business provides the connectivity, IoT infrastructure, data platforms and analytics underpinning these solutions; Ontec supplies smart metering and utility management solutions; and Macrocomm supports implementation, community engagement and skills development.

‘Not just about the tech’

“Modernising municipal infrastructure is not only about introducing new technology, but about giving municipalities better tools to manage essential services and respond to the needs of their communities,” says Videsha Proothveerajh, director of Vodacom Business.

“RT29 provides a practical model for bringing together public and private sector capabilities to help municipalities make that transition.”

The impact is already being seen on the ground.

Power

In Sol Plaatje Local Municipality in the Northern Cape, more than 15 000 smart electricity meters were installed in fewer than 80 days, with approximately 85 local residents employed and trained in smart meter installation and systems management.

In Naledi Local Municipality in North West, more than 6 000 smart meters have been deployed, supporting improved revenue protection and operational efficiency.

The rollout has helped identify electricity losses through real-time consumption monitoring and the detection of tampering and illegal connections, contributing to a reduction in electricity losses from 26% to 5%.

Revenue protection of this kind matters beyond any single municipality.

Illegal electricity connections, meter tampering and ageing infrastructure can erode the revenues needed to maintain and expand essential services. Smart metering addresses this directly: real-time detection of tampering, accurate billing, and comprehensive consumption data enable municipalities to improve revenue collection.

Water

In the City of Tshwane, smart water management solutions are giving municipal teams greater visibility across water networks, helping them to identify leaks and water losses sooner.

Vodacom’s water management platform provides municipalities with a web-based digital dashboard offering real-time visibility across entire water distribution networks, supporting a measurable reduction in water wastage through the rapid identification of leaks, bursts and illegal connections.

This data-driven approach is helping municipalities better manage water resources and respond more quickly to issues across their networks.

These deployments build on earlier smart metering work in the Sol Plaatje, Naledi, Mogale and Matzikama local municipalities, while the wider RT29 programme continues to support the Buffalo City metro as well as the Mbombela, Thabazimbi and Kgetlengrivier local municipalities, among others.

Ripple effect

For communities, the impact extends beyond the installation of new infrastructure.

The programme creates opportunities for local residents to gain practical experience and technical skills, while municipalities gain better visibility of their utility networks and greater insight into how services are being used.

For municipalities, digital innovation of this kind is increasingly not optional but essential, with deployments like these showing what is possible when the right partners and platforms come together to modernise how essential services are delivered.

As the rollout continues, the experience gained across participating municipalities is helping demonstrate how connected infrastructure can support more responsive utility management while creating opportunities for local economic participation.

“Digital innovation is no longer optional for municipalities, but essential,” says Proothveerajh.

“When we combine technology with community employment, we’re not just fixing infrastructure; we’re building local capacity and economic resilience.”

Brought to you by Vodacom Business. 

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