Vodacom is using tech to fight new crisis bigger than load-shedding in South Africa
Water authorities in Gauteng are implementing “load-shifting” to prevent the total collapse of the province’s water network, which is something Vodacom has been working to address with smart meters.
On Thursday, 12 February 2026, water and sanitation deputy minister David Mahlobo announced the introduction of the demand-reduction mechanism, which effectively amounts to water load-shedding.
The measure was one of several “soft” water restrictions the deputy minister and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi outlined at a media briefing last week.
Various areas of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane have been experiencing widespread water outages and low pressure, which an illegal strike by Johannesburg Water workers exacerbated.
According to Mahlobo, most reservoirs in Gauteng were below 60% capacity. He said it would take more than 10 days for the system to stabilise.
He said load-shifting would be implemented to transfer water from reservoirs and parts of the system still in a healthy state to help address shortages in other areas.
This involves shutting off or throttling flow from stable reservoirs to their conventional supply areas.
Mahlobo said that the measures may also impact supply in provinces adjacent to Gauteng, including North West and Mpumalanga.
Warnings about a water crisis in South Africa go back nearly two decades. However, the government did little to address the crisis.
Vodacom, in partnership with Macrocomm, Ontec, and Mezzanine, has been working to address the crisis with narrowband Internet of Things (IoT) smart water meters.
“The smart metering system offers numerous benefits across various areas,” a Vodacom spokesperson told MyBroadband.
One such benefit is enhanced operational efficiency enabled by near-real-time flow and pressure data, automated loss alerts, and zone-by-zone loss analysis.
According to the spokesperson, these essential features will help reduce non-revenue water and manual reading costs.
“In terms of revenue management, the system integrates seamlessly with municipal billing engines and supports time-of-use tariffs, improving revenue recovery and ensuring cash flow certainty,” they said.
“For customer empowerment, households can monitor their daily water usage through a web portal and receive alerts via WhatsApp or SMS, preventing bill shocks and encouraging conservation.”
Environmental benefits and proven scalability
According to Vodacom, the smart metering system also provides substantial environmental benefits, with demand-side management helping to curb over-abstraction and reduce energy consumed in pumping.
This has a significant impact in supporting South Africa’s water security and climate action goals.
The spokesperson said the system uses an accredited installer training model, the effectiveness of which has been proven in Vodacom’s smart electricity meter rollouts.
This proven track record in electricity metering showcases the scalability of Vodacom’s IoT ecosystem and provides a playbook for water metering.
“Overall, the smart metering system is a comprehensive solution that drives efficiency, revenue, customer engagement, environmental sustainability, and community development,” they said.
Vodacom Business revealed that it was working with municipalities to manage water consumption and delivery with smart metering following the State of the Nation Address in February 2025.
“Infrastructure challenges pose significant threats to economic growth and social stability in South Africa,” Vodacom Business director, Videsha Proothveerajh, stated.
“In particular, a secure, reliable water supply is an urgent priority as communities continue to regularly face disruptive water shortages due to failing infrastructure and poor management.”
The National Treasury appointed Vodacom Business as a smart metering service provider in mid-2024, along with six other bidders for the RT29 transversal contract.
This comes after it was appointed a smart metering service provider in May 2024, following the National Treasury’s award of the RT29 transversal contract to it and six other bidders.
The water meters must run on the Sigfox network, feature an embedded antenna, and have a lithium battery with an approximate life of 10 years.
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