The new electricity tariff increase of 12.7% and a R200 surcharge for prepaid uses has seen outrage from Joburg residents, political parties and civil organisations; pushing the City of Johannesburg to put the policy under review.
This is according to Finance MMC Dada Morero, to council members on Tuesday during a caucus meeting at the Council Chambers in Braamfontein.
“We are willing to enter a process to look into the availability charge and its impact on residents, and undergo a process to review these amounts. The reviewal has to take into consideration the necessary and relevant legislative processes that would have been undertaken to arrive at these amounts,” said Morero.
Concurring with CoJ mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, Morero stated the surcharge was initially implemented in 2018, but when Covid-19 hit the country, disrupting operations in various sectors, it was suspended.
“The mayoral committee has heard concerns from citizens and civil society organisations on the amounts on the availability charge. The availability charge was brought into council in 2018, but following Covid-19 this council resolved to suspend the implementation of the availability charge,” said Morero.
On Sunday during a television interview, Gwamanda maintained his stance, saying that the surcharge “is here to stay” and was to foster revenue and the upkeep of infrastructure, in particular, energy infrastructure.
To challenge the surcharge, the DA had issued a petition to scrap tariff increases which mostly affect the indigent.
So far, the petition has 16 306 signatures reaching towards a goal of 20 000.
In spite of the petition, caucus leader of the DA, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, welcomed the surcharge reviewal, emphasising tariffs are financially detrimental to residents.
“The DA’s petition to scrap the newly-introduced electricity surcharge has reached almost 15 000 signatures in less than five days. It is evident that the ratepayers in the city were not consulted effectively in the consideration of this surcharge. In this spirit, we welcome MMC Morero’s commitment to review this unreasonable additional tax imposed upon the city.
“We will hold him to account, and ensure that he follows through on this commitment. Scrap the Johannesburg surcharge. The DA will always be on the side of good governance, and effective management of the city’s funds – which, had it been managed correctly, would not have necessitated the executive to introduce the additional surcharge,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
She furthermore implored council executives, alluding to Gwamanda and Morero, to speak in a unanimous voice, instead of contradicting themselves.
“This, however, is in direct contradiction with the mayor’s stance on this very same issue. His view was, ‘the surcharge is here to stay’.
“While we understand that it might be difficult for an executive to always be on the same page, we urge the City of Johannesburg’s executive to speak from the same mouth on contentious issues that have very real implications for the residents of the city,” alerted Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
The Star