Over the past couple of weeks we have been covering rising costs of electricity, specifically for residents in the City of Joburg (CoJ) municipality. This month, prepaid electricity users were surprised by a R200 (excluding VAT) surcharge that is making the cost of accessing power untenable for many.
The latest development is the CoJ placing this R200 fee under review, although at this stage it is unclear what the review process will yield, especially as the municipality is looking for ways to recoup more funds from residents to tackle growing debts. For now, it is something that prepaid electricity users will need to budget for moving forward.
“On Tuesday CoJ tabled a R2.5 billion loan for consideration by the council. This was rejected and DA caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku welcomed the rejection saying that the local government should explore other avenues before taking on more debt,” wrote Brendyn Lotz.
“It is clear that this loan is an attempt by the executive to place a bandage over the gaping self-inflicted wound that is the City’s finances. The DA will not be party to desperate decision making. We urge the City to come clean on the state of the city’s finances and hold officials to account for the loss in revenue in city owned entities. Our goal will remain good governance and effective management of the City’s entities,” outlined Kayser-Echeozonjoku in a recent meeting.
Along with the R200 fee going under review, this morning’s SPEEDRUN has highlighted solar power to address tariff hikes, government’s commitment to cybersecurity, AWS being able to build enterprise apps from prompts, and our own Clinton Matos playing Diablo IV for the first time.
[Image – Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash]
