BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – As Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) customers are to transition to prepaid system, Government is planning to procure about 10 000 prepaid water meters in the 2025/26 financial year.
This was said by Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Prince Lonkhokhela on March 25, 2025 in the House of Assembly. He said this when answering a question from Ngudzeni Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Ndlovu, who wanted the minister to clarify how this whole project was going to be seamlessly implemented.
The minister mentioned that Government used EWSC to implement this project and 10 000 meters would be procured this year. In the following financial year, the minister said Government wanted to procure 11 000. He mentioned that the project was still being at a pilot stage, which took place at Mndoni in Ezulwini.
He told his colleagues in Parliament that Government wanted to take five years in implementing this project and it was going to cost E600 million. The minister ascertained that awareness would be raised about this initiative so that it could be easy to get support from members of the public.
Concerning those who have debts with EWSC, the minister allayed fears, stating that having debts did not necessarily mean that people would not receive the prepaid meters. He said those indebted to EWSC would have to sit down and come up with a settlement agreement, stating how the debts were to be paid.
Mafutseni MP Sabelo Mtsetfwa commended the Ministry and EWSC for this project. However, he wanted to know when a loan bill was going to be tabled in Parliament, to allow for this project to be implemented in full scale. He made an example of his constituency, stating that a huge water pfroject was coming into that area. He said it would be good for the residents to have the prepaid meters once the water project was finished in Mafutseni.
Somntongo MP Sandile Nxumalo simply wanted to know where the project would be headed after it was done in Ezulwini.
In response, the minister told MP Mtsetfwa that the project would be done in stages. It would not be good to get a loan for now because that could be subject to abuse. It would be better for the project to be done in stages. However, the minister stated that if there was a need for a loan bill to be tabled, that could be done.
Regarding MP Nxumalo’s question, the minister simply mentioned that technicians’ advices would be followed, stating, on a lighter note, that Somntongo could be next.
