While the City of Johannesburg is ignoring calls to drop its R200 fixed service charge on the prepaid high-usage electricity tariff, low-income consumers are suffering the consequences which another department will end up having to pay for.
City Power introduced the R200 (R230 including VAT) fixed charge on 1 July to share the costs of maintaining electricity infrastructure with its customers and ensure a fair distribution of the upkeep costs, helping to sustain reliable service amid challenges like cable theft and illegal connections.
Although the city says that indigent consumers, who are defined as people earning less than R6000 per month, will not pay this charge, an extra R230 is a large expense for low-income consumers who fall outside this bracket.
10kg bag of rice or electricity charge?A 10kg bag of rice that can help feed a family of four for a month costs an average of R199.16, according to the prices in the household food basket compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Justice and Dignity Group for Johannesburg in July. Imagine a woman must stop buying this for her family to afford the electricity charge.
Julie Smith, researcher at the group, says people who have to pay for electricity do not have a choice not to and therefore the R230 will mean cutting spending somewhere else. We know where the cut is likely to be: the food budget, as it is the only expense women can control.
