{"id":809694,"date":"2025-02-03T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=809694"},"modified":"2025-02-03T15:16:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T13:16:51","slug":"r2268-per-month-electricity-price-blow-for-south-africans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/809694\/r2268-per-month-electricity-price-blow-for-south-africans\/","title":{"rendered":"R2,268 per month electricity price blow for South Africans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African households are facing yet another electricity price blow as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved a 12.7% tariff increase for Eskom, effective from April 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This latest hike continues a decade-long trend of soaring electricity costs, with South Africans now paying significantly more for power than they did in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, during a recent parliamentary Q&A, a typical Eskom customer consuming 800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month paid around R1,055 in 2014. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the current 2024\/25 period, that same customer is now paying R2,948\u2014an increase of 179.42%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the approved tariff hike for 2025, the monthly bill will rise further to approximately R3,324. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means South Africans will be paying R2,268 more per month for electricity than they did a decade ago, a near-tripling of costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2027, with further approved increases of 5.36% in 2026 and 6.19% in 2027, that figure could climb to R2,663.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These increases far outpace inflation, which has only risen by 67.8% over the same period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest hike also exceeds current inflation, which sits at around 3%, highlighting the heavy financial burden placed on consumers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom had initially applied for even higher increases as part of its Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD6) application, seeking a cumulative 66% hike over three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Nersa significantly reduced these requests, approving only 35% of Eskom\u2019s 2025 application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Nersa\u2019s commitment to transparency, the regulator has faced criticism for concealing its tariff recommendations from public scrutiny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2024, Nersa assured the public that tariff deliberations would be open and accessible, but it later opted to keep these discussions behind closed doors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lack of transparency has fueled public frustration, particularly as electricity costs continue to escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Eskom argues that these tariff increases are necessary to address its deep-seated financial and operational challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state-owned power utility has been struggling with ageing infrastructure, severe debt, and the need to maintain a stable electricity supply amid persistent load shedding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without significant revenue adjustments, Eskom warns that its ability to provide reliable power will be further compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steep rise in electricity costs has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, including ActionSA and the Democratic Alliance (DA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argue that Eskom should focus on internal reforms instead of burdening consumers with higher prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These parties have called for an end to wasteful spending, stricter debt collection from municipalities, and greater transparency in Eskom\u2019s financial management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They warn that continued price hikes will stifle economic growth by increasing production costs, reducing disposable income, and hindering potential interest rate cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address its financial crisis and contain future tariff hikes, Eskom has implemented the Eskom Financial Recovery Plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This strategy aims to stabilise the utility\u2019s financial position by reducing its massive debt burden through government-backed initiatives and operational efficiencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key component of the plan is restructuring Eskom\u2019s legacy debt, which stems from years of inefficiencies and corruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By improving its financial standing, Eskom hopes to secure funding at lower interest rates, ultimately reducing the cost of borrowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom insists that these measures will help keep tariffs within affordable limits while restoring investor confidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the latest hikes set to take effect in April 2025, South Africans will once again be forced to absorb rising costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many households, these increases are unsustainable, pushing them to explore alternative energy sources such as solar power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless Eskom can deliver on its financial recovery plan and implement meaningful reforms, electricity prices will likely continue to rise, placing even greater pressure on struggling consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nersa has approved a 12.7% tariff increase for Eskom, meaning a massive increase in South Africans’ monthly bills over the last decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":807066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[21606,1164,20623,17963,853],"class_list":["post-809694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-energy-minister","tag-eskom","tag-national-energy-regulator-of-south-africa-nersa","tag-parliamentary-qa","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809694"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809774,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809694\/revisions\/809774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}