JOHANNESBURG - Anger is mounting across Johannesburg after residents with solar power were told they’ll be forced off prepaid electricity and onto costly post-paid billing.
Civil society groups and opposition parties say the move punishes households that invested in solar.
City Power insists the change is necessary, but their stance is being legally challenged.
Joburg residents say the decision to move all solar power users into post-paid billing turns their costly energy investment into a financial penalty.
Residents with solar power will now be burdened with paying higher network charges and will no longer be allowed to use prepaid meters.
Civil society organisation Outa has slammed the move as irrational and says it will oppose it.
The Democratic Alliance has also condemned the decision.
They have labelled it as another money grab by the City of Johannesburg, and are also vowing to challenge it.
City Power maintains that prepaid meters are not suitable for households with solar energy, and were originally designed to allow poor households to avoid costly service charges.
The key question now: is this about fixing billing systems, or plugging revenue gaps at the expense of residents who invested in solar to escape an unreliable grid?
Civil society groups say the fight is just beginning.
- eNCA’s Nabeelah Shaikh reports.