Capetonians who own properties valued at more than R1-million will be hit with a new R8.21-a-day electricity tariff from July 1. Irrespective of whether you are at home or away. The electricity service fee is designed to pay for maintaining, upgrading and growing the City’s electricity supply network. This `fee’ was included in the Energy or kWh charge.
However as citizens buy less electricity in response to the increasing cost per unit and are also becoming more energy efficient and installing alternatives such as solar geysers, PV, wood stoves etc so the City is loosing its traditional revenue from electricity sales.
Another user‚ Rosemary Lambard‚ said: “How many places in CT are not valued at over R1 million right now? And if you‚ like me‚ are a tenant in a vastly overpriced flat with a prepaid meter‚ you’re going to pick up that additional cost‚ not the landlord. This is not okay. Please go and object‚ everyone!”
Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for utilities‚ said households that consumed more than 600 units of electricity a month would not notice a difference in their bills.
But the move has caused an uproar‚ with dozens of Capetonians taking to Facebook to voice their unhappiness. Ratepayers in homes valued at more than R400‚000 will also lose their free basic water supply from July 1.
Limberg said the new “home user tariff” of about R250 a month would apply to “those with properties valued at over R1 million‚ and all customers making use of the old credit meters”.