ActionSA welcomes the City of Johannesburg’s decision to withdraw its proposed increase to the monthly prepaid electricity surcharge in the final 2025/26 budget to be tabled on 29 May 2025.
The surcharge, which was previously set to rise from R200 to R270, will now remain at R200 per month. This follows weeks of mounting public pressure, sustained engagement by ActionSA, and clear opposition to the disproportionate burden the increase would have placed on low-income households.
However, ActionSA’s opposition to the flatrate R200 surcharge remains unchanged. We continue to reject a model that charges the same fee to households regardless of income or electricity consumption. For many struggling families, this charge represents a punitive monthly cost simply for the right to access prepaid electricity – even before purchasing a single unit.
The current surcharge still entrenches inequality and undermines the principle of fair and affordable access to basic services.
In recent weeks, ActionSA submitted a detailed and costed alternative revenue strategy to the City’s leadership, outlining a combination of progressive reforms, including:
- A tiered surcharge based on verified income and usage,
- Revenue recovery from illegal connections and defaulting high-use customers,
- Expanded compliance in property and business licensing,
- Greater use of solar and third-party wheeling income,
- Rationalisation of non-core municipal expenditure.
This model can recover R2.7 billion to R4.4 billion, far exceeding the revenue from the existing surcharge, without punishing prepaid customers. ActionSA will not support any budget that retains the R200 prepaid electricity surcharge.
Our position is unequivocal: this charge is unjust, regressive, and undermines our coalition’s commitment to pro-poor governance.
Unless the surcharge is removed and replaced with a fairer, means-based alternative, ActionSA will be unable to support the final 2025/26 budget when it is tabled in Council.
ActionSA Welcomes Halt to Electricity Surcharge Increase, Reiterates Call for Pro-Poor Reform
ActionSA welcomes the City of Johannesburg’s decision to withdraw its proposed increase to the monthly prepaid electricity surcharge in the final 2025/26 budget to be tabled on 29 May 2025.
The surcharge, which was previously set to rise from R200 to R270, will now remain at R200 per month. This follows weeks of mounting public pressure, sustained engagement by ActionSA, and clear opposition to the disproportionate burden the increase would have placed on low-income households.
However, ActionSA’s opposition to the flatrate R200 surcharge remains unchanged. We continue to reject a model that charges the same fee to households regardless of income or electricity consumption. For many struggling families, this charge represents a punitive monthly cost simply for the right to access prepaid electricity – even before purchasing a single unit.
The current surcharge still entrenches inequality and undermines the principle of fair and affordable access to basic services.
In recent weeks, ActionSA submitted a detailed and costed alternative revenue strategy to the City’s leadership, outlining a combination of progressive reforms, including:
This model can recover R2.7 billion to R4.4 billion, far exceeding the revenue from the existing surcharge, without punishing prepaid customers. ActionSA will not support any budget that retains the R200 prepaid electricity surcharge.
Our position is unequivocal: this charge is unjust, regressive, and undermines our coalition’s commitment to pro-poor governance.
Unless the surcharge is removed and replaced with a fairer, means-based alternative, ActionSA will be unable to support the final 2025/26 budget when it is tabled in Council.