City Power Clears the Air on Prepaid Charges, Here’s Why You Might Be Paying More

City Power says the R200 disappearing from your prepaid electricity isn’t a glitch. It’s payback, literally.

If you’ve ever bought R400 worth of prepaid electricity in Johannesburg only to receive half the expected units, you’re not alone and it’s no mistake. City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava has now explained why some customers are seeing a large chunk of their recharge vanish before their kettle’s even boiled.

And while it may feel like a stealth tax, the utility says it’s simply recouping months of unpaid fixed charges that were missed due to vandalism, meter tampering, or technical delays in replacing faulty meters.

Why R200 Disappears from Your Electricity Recharge

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Mashava addressed growing public frustration over high upfront deductions when recharging prepaid electricity meters.

“With prepaid customers, we charge a basic fee of about R200,” she said, “whereas we charge postpaid customers around R900.”

That R200 fee is meant to be collected monthly even if you don’t use any electricity. But if your meter was tampered with, bypassed, or vandalised, chances are you weren’t being billed properly in the past.

Once City Power validates and replaces those meters, it’s now back-charging customers for every month they didn’t pay the fixed fee sometimes for up to six months. That means each recharge could take a big hit until the unpaid balance is recovered.

“If you didn’t pay your R200 charge in 2024, the system is programmed to collect it from your tokens in 2025,” Mashava said.

The Backstory: Tampering, Load-Shedding and Missing Meters

City Power began its meter validation programme in late 2023, uncovering thousands of tampered or damaged meters across Joburg, many the result of illegal connections or technical failure. The process aimed to restore accurate billing and improve revenue collection, but it’s now also triggering retroactive billing for affected customers.

Load-shedding didn’t help matters either. In the chaos of blackouts, some meters failed to record usage correctly, leading to billing based on estimates or not at all.

Now that systems are restored, City Power is claiming what it’s owed and customers are footing the bill.

Customers React: Confusion and Frustration

On social media, many residents have shared their confusion and anger, at the disappearing electricity units.

“How do I pay R500 and only get 110 units?!” one user tweeted.
“City Power needs to explain this nonsense.”

Another commented, “Feels like daylight robbery. Where’s the transparency?”

Mashava promised improved communication and said City Power will reach out to all affected customers. Still, many say the utility could’ve done more to explain the deductions before they started happening.

Eskom Debt Drama and the Bigger Picture

At the same time City Power was fielding complaints from customers, it was also fighting off a R3.4 billion bill from Eskom for bulk electricity supply. The situation nearly escalated to a courtroom showdown in mid-2024, with the High Court ordering City Power and the City of Joburg to cough up over R1 billion.

Thankfully, national government stepped in.

“We pulled them out of the court process,” said Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, emphasising that this was a technical issue, not one for judges to decide.

After extensive negotiations, a R3.2 billion settlement was reached. City Power will pay off the amount over four years and R830 million in disputed penalties was written off, including charges linked to load-shedding and inaccurate meter readings.

Will This Affect Tariffs? No, Says Government

With a mountain of debt and customers grumbling, many feared City Power would hike electricity tariffs to make up the difference.

But Ramokgopa assured residents: “It will not affect the tariffs.”

He stressed that City Power had done well to maintain its current account, and the settlement was a step towards long-term financial sustainability, not a reason for price hikes.

So What Should You Do?

If you’re one of the residents affected by retroactive billing, reach out to City Power directly to understand your account and request a breakdown of what you owe.

Customers can also:

• Use the My City Power portal or app to track charges

• Call the City Power customer service line for account queries

• Follow updates from the utility on social media for ongoing communication

Yes, you might be paying more for electricity right now, but it’s not a new charge, it’s just an old one coming back to collect. And while the process may feel unfair, City Power insists it’s necessary to keep the lights on, literally and financially.

{Source: The Citizen}

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