Under Al Jamaah's Gwamanda administationadministration, the City of Johannesburg introduced a R200 surcharge fee for prepaid electricity meters in July 2024 in addition to a 12.7 electricity tariff fee. Residents criticised the City of Johannesburg for implementing the surcharge fee without public participation, however, Gwamanda denied this and instead defended the fee and said that it was there to stay.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 July 2024 |title=Gwamanda denies lack of consultation on R200 prepaid surcharge |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/energy/joburg-mayor-says-r200-prepaid-electricity-surcharge-here-to-stay-6809eafe-706f-4069-b967-352e43d25d1b |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=SABC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Buda |first=Christopher |date=5 July 2024 |title=Joburg mayor says R200 prepaid electricity surcharge here to stay |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/energy/joburg-mayor-says-r200-prepaid-electricity-surcharge-here-to-stay-6809eafe-706f-4069-b967-352e43d25d1b |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=IOL}}</ref> The R200 fee targeted poor households and was critisedcriticised for the consequences it would have.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Njilo |first=Nonkululeko |date=2024-07-07 |title=Poorer Joburgers buckle under new R200 prepaid meter electricity surcharge |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-08-impoverished-joburgers-buckle-under-new-monthly-r200-prepaid-meter-fixed-electricity-surcharge/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref>
