City of Joburg suspends prepaid electricity surcharge
The fixed surcharge of R200 per month for prepaid residential and R402 per month for business prepaid customers was approved by council as part of the annual tariff increases.
The City of Johannesburg will not be implementing the fixed surcharge for prepaid electricity as adopted by Council recently.
In a statement, the City said the fixed surcharge of R200 per month for prepaid residential and R402 per month for business prepaid customers was approved by council as part of the annual tariff increases.
The surcharge aimed to better align pre-paid tariffs to conventional tariffs and was due to be implemented on 1 July
2019. However, this has been suspended pending further engagement with all relevant stakeholders.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance, Funzela Ngobeni says that consumers are already burdened by increasing interest rates, pressure on household disposable income, and the sluggish economy.
“While we consider the tariffs to be cost-reflective, we cannot ignore the calls for relief by our residents. Following significant consultation, we have addressed the issues through increased internal efficiencies and passed this benefit onto our consumers,” says Ngobeni.
Official tariff increases for the City of Johannesburg, which come into effect on 1 July 2019 include:
- 5.5% for property rates;
- 13.7% for electricity;
- 7%. for refuse removal; and
- 9.9 % for water.