R200 electricity surcharge will remain until 2025, says Mashaba

Johannesburg residents might have to wait a little longer until the controversial R200 electricity surcharge is completely scrapped.

In an interview with The Citizen, ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said according to the party’s knowledge, the surcharge would be scrapped after the adjusted budget had been presented by the MMC of Finance, Margret Arnolds.

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“You cannot change the budget in the middle of the year so the earliest we will deal with this is when we do the adjustment budget in February (2025). It was passed by Council before the end of June(2024). So we cannot change it unfortunately, it will be an illegal act,” he said.

Surcharge in effect

The surcharge came into effect on 1 July, along with the 12.7% electricity hike that has left many residents in a tight financial position.

The surcharge was intended to provide revenue to fund Johannesburg’s investment in new electricity infrastructure and the maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Since the announcement of this charge, there have been petitions by Johannesburg residents and opposition parties to get rid of it.

Meanwhile, Mashaba appealed to Johannesburg residents to hang on while it continues to remove the surcharge.

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“We appeal to our residents to bear with us, we fought for it,” Mashaba said.

He said he had received assurance from the mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Dada Morero, who was the MMC of Finance that the matter would be dealt with next year in February.

“So, from the first of 1 March 2025, you are not going to have this surcharge,” he said.

Surcharge part of political deal

Mashaba, whose party supported Morero in his election as Joburg mayor, had demanded that the surcharge be removed and that Kabelo Gwamanda be removed as mayor as part of a working relationship between the  African National Congress (ANC) and ActionSA in several municipalities in Gauteng.

On Wednesday, the ANC honoured part of their agreement with ActionSA and voted for Nobuhle Mthembu to become the Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg.

She gave a speech indicating that she would hold the mayor and his team accountable.

Some councillors poked fun at her and asked her to explain to residents that the surcharge was not going anywhere.