South Africa’s shift toward digital operations means businesses can no longer rely on manual utility payments or fragmented value-added service providers. Whether you manage properties, operate SMEs, run retail stores, or build software platforms, it is clear that automation is the future of e-commerce, operations and customer service.

The Powertime Value-Added Service (VAS) Aggregator solves this by giving businesses a single, scalable interface to purchase or resell electricity, water, airtime, data, and bill payments all in one place to streamline operations, reduce admin, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

What Is the Powertime VAS Aggregator?

The Powertime VAS is a secure, developer-friendly platform that connects your business systems, apps, dashboards, billing software, ERPs or management tools, to a wide range of digital services that you can both buy and sell. With one click you can do the following:

• Buy prepaid electricity or water tokens,
• Check your Powertime balances,
• Automate recurring purchases,
• Integrate VAS payments into your platform,

Who Uses Powertime VAS?

The platform is built for businesses that want one place to manage or deliver multiple digital services.

• Property Managers and Landlords: Automate token generation for multiple units, reduce tenant disputes, and eliminate manual top-ups.
• SMEs, Retailers and Online Marketplaces: Buy all utility and digital products for operations in one place; resell electricity, airtime, data, and bill payments at POS or online or offer electricity top-ups as a value-added service to your customers.
• Fintech and App Developers: Add electricity, water, airtime and data purchasing capabilities directly inside your app or financial platform without building the infrastructure yourself.
• Body Corporates and Estates: Centralize metering, billing, token distribution and top-up without depending on manual processes and track usage from a central environment.

Key Benefits of Using the Powertime VAS Platform

1. One Platform for All Services

Instead of dealing with multiple suppliers, APIs, and payment systems, the Powertime VAS platform gives you a unified all-in-one hub to buy or resell electricity, water, airtime, data, and bill payments.

2. Full Automation

Businesses can easily set rules such as:

• “Top up R500 every Monday at 8am”
• “Generate tokens for all tenants on the 1st of every month”

These rules enable the platform to do the work for you automatically, removing human error and keeping operations moving..

3. Reduced Admin and Costs

Manual top-ups take time, especially when managing dozens or hundreds of meters.
The VAS platform automation reduces:

• Staff workload,
• Processing delays,
• Mistakes in token delivery

This leads to lower operational overhead and increased operational efficiency.

4. Enhanced Customer and Tenant Experience

For businesses, property managers, retailers or fintech platforms serving end-users, integration enables:

• Instant token delivery,
• In-app electricity purchases,
• Automated billing,
• Transparent usage data

5. Built to Scale

Whether you manage 5 users or 50,000, the Powertime VAS platform grows with you. There is no need to redesign, no additional infrastructure required. Just plug into the VAS platform and scale.

How Integration Works

• Create a Powertime Business Account: Get access to keys, documentation, and sandbox testing.
• Connect Your Platform or System: Integrate into mobile apps, web platforms, billing tools, POS systems and internal management software.
• Configure Your Rules: Automation for billing cycles, top-ups, and low-balance alerts.
• Go Live: Begin buying or reselling electricity, airtime, data, water, and bill payments instantly.

Are you ready to power your future? Explore Powertime’s platform today to take the next step in your smarter, cleaner and more independent energy journey. Visit our website at www.powertime.co.za for more information and contact our team.

The post How Businesses Can Use the Powertime VAS Aggregator for Streamlined Utilities, Digital Payments and Automated Metering appeared first on Powertime.

Buying electricity with us has never been that easy.

With Powertime, you can now buy electricity via Whatsapp.

No major steps, simply send a WhatsApp message to +27219115611 and our bot “Holly” will be happy to assist you throughout the process.

The bot is currently limited to electricity purchases by credit card.

Existing users will be able to seamlessly log in and make their purchases.

New users will be able to register their meter. They will then need to register their card and do their first transactions on the website. From then on, they will be able to use our WhatsApp channel to buy their power.

If you experience any issues, our team is available at 021 911 5611 or support@powertime.co.za

The post Top Up Your Power on Whatsapp With Our Powertime Chatbot appeared first on Powertime.

We are pleased to announce that we have updated our Powertime IOS users.

What is New?

1. Fixed airtime/date display bug

We have upgraded and fixed the airtime/data display bug.

It is now easier to select the various network and products available.

2. Add meter aliases

You can now add an alias (name, or pseudonym) on the different meters you register on the Powertime app.

It saves you from remembering the meter number each time you want to buy.

3. Various fixes and improvement

We have fixed a bug on the receipts in the wallet statement section.

We have fixed the different display issues identified in the various screen sizes.

Get the update here link. If you have activated autonated update, iOS will automatically update it for you.

The post Powertime iOS app version 3.1.3 appeared first on Powertime.

The best way to save electricity is to first understand how you are spending your electricity. Of course, we cannot guess how it’s spent in your household but we can help you in saving during this season by providing some saving electricity tips.

1. Make full use of natural light

Make use of natural lights during the day, a single southwest-facing window can light up more than 20 times its area, and by turning off unnecessary lights, you can see a large improvement in your electricity usage.

2. Use table lamps

You can also reduce your electricity usage by turning off different ceiling lighting and making use of table lamps ( which are energy efficient ), in different places of your house such as your office, working section, living room, and kitchen. You can also use a motion sensor for interior lighting.

3. Manage your house temperature

Surprisingly enough, during winter  an electric heater consumes more energy than other devices in the house . Manage the temperature of your house by only using the heater in rooms that are occupied.

4. Wash your laundry with cold water

Yes! You can wash your laundry by switching from hot water to cold water. This will allows you to save hot water for only important use such as showering and cooking.

5. Make use of a kettle

The stove uses more electricity than the kettle, so it’s more efficient to boil your water by using a kettle than a stove, do not overfill your kettle when boiling, use only as much as it’s required.

6. Switch off your stove when not in use

Always make sure to switch off your stove when you don’t use it, replace damaged stove plates regularly, as when it’s not in good quality, they tend to require more heat, and also make use of your stove only when cooking multiple dishes at a time. Always match the size of the pot with the size of your stove’s plates.

7. Be efficient with refrigerating

Ensure the fridge doors is close, Also ensuring that the door seal is of good quality.  Do not let the fridge open while doing other things, and also make sure to not put hot liquid or solid element in the fridge.

8. Unplug your unused appliances

Make sure to unplug unused electronics devices as standby power can account for more than 6% of your average household’s annual electricity use. Make sure to unplug appliances such as televisions, iron, and kettle.

9. Shift to the solar system

It might be difficult to convert the entire house into a solar system but certain things can be plugged into a small solar system in order to reduce the electricity usage. For example, you can change to an outdoor solar lights system, device solar chargers, and also by using a solar system for small appliances.

10. Manage your geyser

Switch your geyser off, if unused or if you leave on holiday. You can also install a timer in order to control the operational times of your geyser, which can increase up to 15% in electricity saving.

In Conclusion,

It’s advisable for everyone to reduce their energy bills in order to adapt and not get impacted by the semestrial tariff increase of this year. By carefully following the tips listed above you can easily reduce up to 25% in electricity bills.

The post How To Save Electricity In Winter appeared first on Powertime.

Since the beginning of the fall season in South Africa, Eskom has implemented the load-shedding festival due to the different incident that has been happening during the past few weeks, such as:

1. The sabotage of the cable stations

Since 2021 Eskom has been facing sabotage of its cables in different places within the country, the most recent occurred in Mpumalanga at the Hendrina station. Investigations have been conducted but with no concrete  outcome; and these sabotages cause instability in Eskom to provide electricity.

2. The continued shortage of generation capacity

Probably the primordial cause of the load-shedding in South Africa is the shortage of generation capacity, due to the different power stations not working and Eskom is unable to provide enough capacity.

Eskom provided an estimated value of 4,000 – 6,000 MW of additional capacity needed to properly maintain its power stations.  Another 14,500 megawatts of capacity is currently unavailable due to the multiple breakdowns of the generation.

3. The coal quality

The quality of coal plays an important role in the generation of electricity in the different power stations. For quite a few years now, there is an ongoing issue with the quality of coal provided by several syndicates and other suppliers, such as “Exxaro and Seriti” which are the largest suppliers of coal to Eskom, by roughly providing 80% of coal/year to Eskom.

According to the expert Chris Yelland, suppliers are unable to keep up with the expected quality of coal requested due to the constant demand that keeps on increasing. The bad quality of coal, impacted the production as workers have to manually remove ash and other elements in the units stuck in the pipework, which cause delays and affects the different stations.

4. The Inadequate level of skills and inadequate availability of skills

One of the biggest challenges that South Africa is facing is a lack of skills, and Eskom has also been impacted by the wave, as there are challenges with a lack of engineering and technical skills and experience in the industry. According to Pravin Gordhan, In order to solve the issue, Eskom has launched a training program to upgrade the skills and abilities of its workers.

In conclusion,

With the demand that keeps on increasing, it’s now challenging to constantly supply enough electricity to the entire country. In order to match the demand, Eskom has no order choice but to reimplement the load-shedding period with different stages based on the current events and demand in the market. With the fall season that has started, we might face a long period in the dark as demand tends to increase. It’s not yet clear when the issues will be fixed and also when load-shedding will be definitely suspended, but according to the Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha, Eskom’s users can help the entity in reducing stages but reducing electricity usage, which can potentially help in suspending the load-shedding.

The post The launch of the Eskom Load-shedding rocket appeared first on Powertime.

Prepaid electricity in the main, is quite a good concept to look into if you are still running a post paid system and are struggling with exorbitant monthly fees and costs. If you are controlling your energy spend with the post paid method, then this is in order however it can easily become a costly expense. Prepaid electricity too, are not without it’s errors and issues and below we will discuss some very common errors you will come across some time or the other with your prepaid electricity set-up:

Error Messages: 

1. SAD face – probably means it is just finger trouble in typing the token number – please retry
2. DDDD –  Duplicated token. The token has probably been entered already, causing this error. Please double check.
3. Error 30 – Technical error on your meter. To try and troubleshoot this error, please switch off your meter, as well as your electricity mains and give it a few minutes. Afterwards, turn back on your mains and meter back on and retry your token. If the error 30 persists, please contact your municipality and get a technician to come out and have a look at the meter.

Meter Blocked? – It does occur that a meter is blocked by a municipality’s credit control. This means that the municipality prevents your meter from making a prepaid purchase until the block is lifted. To have this lifted the client needs to sort this out with the municipality.

While we are on the subject, also important to note that any outstanding fees on your utility bill that is deemed to be in arrears, can be deducted from your prepaid electricity purchase. If this takes place, it is wise to contact the municipality to resolve this.

For more information please visit: https://straton.co.za/pre-paid/about/prepaid-meter-error-codes/

The post Prepaid Meter Error Codes appeared first on Powertime.

South Africans have again been cautioned to become acclimated to control power outages for essentially the following 5 years.

The force utility executed stage two burden shedding as it battles to recuperate from various breakdowns.

Energy expert Ted Blom blames Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter: Eighteen months ago, he said he would have all the plants refurbished and that load shedding would end. Earlier this year, he has come out to say he is not going to spend that money on refurbishing the plants and it would be a better investment to put into renewable. Blom accepts the accentuation on renewable was misguided: “It is far and away more terrible because, with renewable, they are discussing battery stockpiling. there is no utility size battery stockpiling plants accessible any place on the planet. No nation is running battery stockpiling as reinforcement.”

As load shedding was implemented the last few days, Eskom could conduct some repairs to generating units and the maintenance programme proceed. Despite the fact that they were not able to replenish emergency generation reserves, but could reply on support system.

There are still risks to some generating units, which will pressurize Eskom to implement load shedding at short notice. Electricity still needs to be used sparingly to prevent possibility of load shedding. we also have to note that water pumps are also connected to electricity that supply water to the community meaning water can also be affected by load shedding.

The post Load shedding will likely last for 5 years appeared first on Powertime.

How?

Simply add or save our whatsApp number 0443822484 to your smart phone and refresh your WhatsApp contact list, and you should be able to now send us a message directly to that number!

You can now send us a message or you can send us screen shots of the issue you are experiencing on Android, iOs, Windows mobile and Web as displayed by the images below. So go ahead and test it out! 

Our other support channels include:

Email: support@powertime.co.za

Office line: (021) 911 5611

Messenger: m.me/PowertimeZA

And of course, our live chat feature on our website!

The post WhatsApp now Support: Get in touch with us! appeared first on Powertime.

Rooftop Solar Panels

This is probably the most common and obvious method, if you’re looking into renewable power. Solar panels typically go on your roof, although you can also install them in your yard. If your current roof is nearing the end of its lifespan, you could also consider investing in solar shingles. Where standard rooftop solar panels are mounted on top of your current roof, solar shingles actually take the place of your roof tiles.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines are commonly found on wind-farms or floating offshore somewhere, but if you have enough real estate you can install a small wind turbine on your property to power your home.

Solar Oven

Maybe you’re not ready to power your entire home with renewable energy as yet. That’s a big project, and maybe it’s just not feasible for various reasons. You can still power a part of your home with renewable energy by building a solar oven. Solar ovens are typically a science fair project, but ovens actually use quite a bit of electricity. Using the sun to passively heat your food is a good way to get started in the world of renewable energy.

Hydro Power

This won’t work for most people, but if your property contains a source of flowing water, you’re in luck. You can divert some or all of the stream or river to flow through a turbine and power your home.

Solar Water Heating

Solar water heaters use the sun to heat a reserve of water, which can then be pumped through your radiators or out your faucets or showerheads. This system is much cheaper than using gas or electricity to heat your water, and is easier to install than solar panels.

Solar Air Conditioning

Air conditioning uses more electricity than almost anything else in your home. Air conditioning can cost you quite a bit amount of money every year, especially if you have central air and you live in a hot climate. Using hot water to cool your home can save you money and help the environment.

Tesla Powerwall

The Powerwall is a large rechargeable battery that can store several kilowatt-hours of electricity. On its own, it can be programmed to charge itself from the grid when electricity is on, and discharge when you’re hit by load-shedding or there is a disruption in the supply.

The post 7 Ways to Solar Power your Home appeared first on Powertime.

“No one knows for certain if load shedding will be necessary, not even Eskom” says Yelland. It depends on the randomness of breakdowns. However, Eskom can make prediction based on their experience. The likelihood of rationing is despite demand for electricity being lower in 2020 than in 2008, “That’s because of a weaker economy, and rising electricity prices which means people are more likely to use energy such as gas” he says

However, there is a lot happening over the short term and long term that make further blackouts more likely, and means they will probably keep on happening for at least another 18 months. In the short term, Eskom’s availability generating capacity usually declines over summer. The basic reason is that demand for power is lower, so Eskom typically schedules its maintenance for the warmer months. Yelland says that “Eskom’s available power is usually lowest between December 15 and January 15″

Unfortunately, there is also an increase risk of unplanned outages during the summer. The warmer air can impact Eskom’s dry-cooled power stations, such as Medupi near Lephalale, and Kusile near Balmoral. “Think of a power station that produces 600MW. Because it is getting too hot, it can now only produce 500MW” says Yelland. It is also like a car overheating, you cannot run them flat out. If Medupi and Kusile two of Eskom’s largest power stations have 10% less output, that means there is a lot less power generated.

The power utility is embarking on a massive maintenance program over the next few months, although the exact dates are nit known; the reliability maintenance program as it is called was originally scheduled for earlier this year but was delayed due to lockdown.

The post 2020 Could be worst year yet for load shedding! appeared first on Powertime.