Fear lessl y the tr uth 25 November 2011
Tzaneen, Modjadjiskloof, Haenertsburg, Letsitele, Phalaborwa, Gravelotte, Giyani, Hoedspruit, Lenyenye, Mica, Mooketsi, Nkowankowa, Ofcolaco, Trichardtsdal
3838, Tzaneen • 8 Crown Street/Straat 8 • 015 307 7248 • 015 307 7684 • editor@bulletin.us.com • www.bulletin.us.com
R3
Nuwe winkelpromenade open met ’n knal Tzaneen se nuwe spoggerige winkelpromenade “op die bult”, die Tzaneen Lifestyle Centre, se eerste winkels het Woensdag met ‘n knal geopen. ‘n Hele paar duisend mense het die sentrum “bestorm” en winkels soos Checkers, Fish Aways en King Pie moes spook om voor te bly om klante te bedien. Van die wegneemete-plekke kon nie soos beplan om 19:00 sluit nie en was nog tot lank na 20:00 oop. Die gerieflike toegange (verkeersligte by die hoofingang na die dorp en by die ingange na die sentrum beheer die verkeersvloei) en die lekker parkering, gaan die nuwe sentrum beslis baie gewild maak.
Breakthrough for Tzn
• From January pre-paid electricity meters will be installed in Tzaneen for the first time ever
First in South Africa to use new technology
Francois Aucamp
francois@bulletin.us.com
Pre-paid electricity meters boasting the very latest technology will become available in Tzaneen in January — the first town in South Africa to obtain the very latest state-of-theart technology. The Greater Tzaneen Municipality will make the meters available for a pilot project in Flora Park first. The GTM’s director of electro-technical ser-
vices, Mr Pierre van den Heever, confirmed the new development on Wednesday. He also confirmed that the new technology makes the meters tamper resistant and that the meters will be monitored from the GTM’s offices — where an alarm will go off the moment somebody tries to tamper with a meter! Pre-paid meters will in the long run cause a dramatic improve-
Van den Heever
ment in the GTM’s cash flow, since electricity will not be paid for two months after consumption, Van den Heever said. Pre-paid meters will be ideal in specific circumstances, for example in granny flats. Van den Heever warned that people shouldn’t think the unit cost of electricity is cheaper for pe-paid meters. “Consumers will be able to monitor their usage better and
easier, but the unit cost will be exactly the same as for consumers not using pre-paid meters,” he said. Van den Heever added that Tzaneen has waited for a long time to introduce pre-paid meters, due to the fact that the GTM was not prepared to give the green light for technology that allowed for tampering with meters — inevitably resulting in losses in revenue. • Eskom’s alleged 20% loss is said to be largely as a result of pre-paid meters that are not tamperfree and being side-passed.