A storm of protest is brewing after City Power put up its prepaid electricity prices to the majority of its poor and indigent customers by six to 12 times the inflation rate, and well above Eskom’s prepaid tariff rates for the poor, says Chris Yelland.
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 black townships, informal settlements and rural areas.
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