Johannesburg — Residents of Johannesburg were left furious after the city decided to increase the electricity surcharge for pre-paid customers by R200.
Gwamanda took to X and released the City’s statement and said the newly introduced surcharge stemmed from a conversation dating back to 2018 and is intended to provide revenue to fund the city’s new electricity infrastructure and maintenance of existing structures. He added that the surcharge was meant to happen during the 2019/20 financial year, but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“The new electricity surcharge is a necessary intervention to create fairness and equality in the City’s tariffs regime. Post-paid customers have been paying the surcharge and only pre-paid customers were excluded. What the introduction of the surcharge now seeks to do is to end the subsidisation of prepaid customers by post-paid customers,” Gwamanda said.
Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda tells @imanrappetti that council has always been considerate of the impact of its decision hence they understand the backlash from residents about the R200 electricity surcharge.
Watch: https://t.co/Y4OR65qBSm pic.twitter.com/OWSHjMcp6v
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 5, 2024
The city must now ensure that it uses the tariffs to effectively maintain the system and increase capacity to meet the growing economic needs. Gwamanda said any attempts to intervene and deliberately collapse the city’s infrastructure is an injustice.
The city also urged residents to familiarise themselves with the new tariff regime and the city will ensure an added effort will be made to educate the public on the tariff and its implementation.
According to The Citizen, residents said the new R200 surcharge has affected their daily lives and their household budgets. Lebohang Ngobeni said they were expecting the electricity hike but were surprised by the new surcharge added to their bill.
She said when she previously bought R400 electricity, she would get 120 units, but now only gets 60 units, and questioned how this would be enough to get her through the month.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) called on Joburg municipality to scrap the new R200 prepaid fixed charge. The organisation said this charge would have significant financial repercussions on communities, especially those who were most vulnerable.
“For many residents, particularly low-income families who rely on prepaid meters to manage their electricity usage, this extra R230 a month is an insurmountable expense,” OUTA’s Justin Kleynhans, said.
“It effectively penalises these households for their efforts to reduce their electricity consumption, undermining the principles of fairness and equity,” Kleynhans said.
OUTA’s Julius Kleynhans tells @imanrappetti that the City of Joburg’s R200 electricity surcharge was not thoroughly thought out despite its proposal dating back to 2018. He adds even then it was met with resistance from residents.
Watch: https://t.co/uFracGeIiN pic.twitter.com/i4GOWs0ucV
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 5, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
