• Over the Easter weekend Eskom confirmed that its NERSA-approved tariff increases would take effect starting at the beginning of April.
• The tariff increases range from 12.72 percent to 12.74 percent.
• While there is no tariff structural changes for 2024/25, Eskom says it is considering applying for them for the 2025/26 period.

It seems like many service providers used the past Easter weekend to make a flurry of announcements and reminders to South African citizens, many of which ironically took effect from 1st April this week.

We saw the price of mobile services increase across the various local network operators, and the same went for South Africa’s power utility Eskom, which confirmed that NERSA-approved electricity tariffs would rise at the beginning of April too.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved the changes in December of last year, but with each passing week and the increase in loadshedding, not to mention the rising of cost of living and geopolitical tensions, this latest increase to electricity tariffs likely feel like another gut punch for many South Africans who are experiencing an especially tough start to 2024.

There is also the prospect of local authority electricity tariffs increasing too, with those being implemented from 1st July this year.

As for the more immediate approved changes for 2024/2025, they are as follows:

“The average increase applied to the key industrial and urban tariffs will be 13.29% due to the increase in the affordability subsidy charge. The affordability subsidy charge is raised as a subsidy to the Homelight 20A tariff and is determined by NERSA. This charge exists due to historically lower Homelight 20A tariff increases and is paid by the non-municipal large industrial and urban tariffs,” Eskom explained in a statement.

It should also be pointed out that the above increases do not factor in VAT, which is set by the Finance Minister, nor do they take into account any local municipality charges. Either way then, it is our citizens that shoulder the most financial burden, despite loadshedding having no visible end in sight.

There is the slightest of respite as no tariff structural changes have been outlined for this new period, but Eskom has signalled that it wishes to apply for them during the 2025/2026 period via NERSA. As such, the next significant change to electricity tariffs could feature a double blow for cash strapped South Africans.

“There are no tariff structural changes for 2024/25, however, Eskom is considering a tariff restructuring submission to NERSA for implementation in 2025/26,” the power utility noted.

Eskom has, to its credit, made some tools available to citizens in order to calculate or gauge what impact the increase in electricity tariffs will have moving forward, with calculators for both small power users (SPUs) and large power users (LPUs).

Both, along with a few more tools, are available here.