There are about 950,000 indigent households in the City of Johannesburg metropolitan area that should be receiving free basic electricity.
A storm of protest is brewing after City Power raised its prepaid electricity prices to the majority of its indigent customers by six to 12 times the inflation rate, and well above Eskom's prepaid tariff rates for the poor.
City Power is a company owned 100% by the City of Johannesburg, responsible for most of the electricity distribution and retail sales of electricity to residential customers in the Johannesburg metropolitan area.
However, for historical reasons, South Africa's national electricity utility, Eskom, also distributes and sells electricity directly to certain residential households in the Johannesburg metropolitan area, and in particular, to customers in Soweto and other relatively poor townships, informal settlements and rural areas.
This article provides some facts and figures comparing City Power's 2024/25 prepaid electricity tariffs and tariff increases to those of Eskom, focusing on the impact on indigent and poor households with relatively low consumption in the range of 200kWh to 400kWh per month.
Background
City Power's Residential Prepaid Low tariff applies to households in areas served by City Power that are currently formally registered as indigent and appear on the indigent register of the City of Johannesburg. The Residential Prepaid High tariff applies to the significant majority...
