{
  "id": 15569043,
  "title": "South Africa: Elections 2026 - Midlands Municipality Claws Back Millions in Electricity Revenue",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/south-africa-elections-2026-midlands-municipality-claws-back-millions",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-19T05:53:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "AllAfrica",
    "slug": "allafrica",
    "url": "https://allafrica.com/stories/202610190080.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The uMngeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal's Midlands region has spent millions on installing smart meters to curb electricity losses. These smart meters, totaling nearly 2,000, aim to prevent illegal connections and tampering, which have historically resulted in up to R83-million in annual losses. The program has already raised millions in revenue and reduced electricity consumption, generating an extra R1-million in July alone, with projections of R900,000 monthly in additional revenue. However, some residents have expressed concerns over the increased electricity costs. The municipality has spent R5.7-million on 1,885 smart meters, with R36-million needed to complete the project. The money will be sourced from reallocated budgets and recovered funds from uMngeni-uThukela Water. The municipality has also discovered it underbilled a treatment plant for almost 20 years, costing them R25-million, which they will use to fund the smart metering project.",
  "summary": "[GroundUp] uMngeni has installed nearly 1,900 smart meters to curb electricity losses",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "GroundUp",
        "title": "Elections 2026: Midlands municipality claws back millions in electricity revenue",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/elections-2026-midlands-municipality-claws-back-millions-in",
        "published": "2026-10-19T02:30:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}