Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

22 July 2025

2-minute read

The R126 electricity surcharge, suspended after widespread protests in Ekurhuleni, has sparked outrage while putting municipalities under scrutiny.

Professor Sampson Mampwheli from the South African National Energy Development Institute says the Minister of Electricity and Energy has acknowledged that while Eskom tariffs are quite high, “they were not cost-reflective for the longest of times.” This has led to an increase of electricity tariffs to double digit figures, adding to the economic woes of the poor.

The Minister has charged SANEDI with looking into the pricing of electricity to restructure and implement pricing models to lower electricity tariffs going forward. Recent approval of the Retail Tarriff plan by Nepsa has a variety of benefits. People who use more than 350kW hours per month will no longer be charged more once they reach their 350kW consumption. Fixed charges for large consumers have been revised and reduced so they “don’t necessarily feel the 12.8% increase.” Those with small scale electricity generation and solar users who produce their own electricity, and whose electricity feeds into the grid, will be incentivised.

Issues of inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption that were impacting at national Eskom level have “changed drastically” since the appointment of Minister Ramokgopa, says Prof Sampson. People involved in corruption at Eskom were apprehended and arrested and Eskom performance has improved, thus “cascading down to the municipalities” who purchase from Eskom in bulk and in turn sell to end consumers. Municipality tariffs are regulated by Nefsa and are linked to Eskom tariffs.

The Professor further stated that consumers are required to bear the cost of the electricity they consume to maintain the power system if we don’t want to go back to extensive loadshedding. This will also stop government having to come in once again with shareholder equity injections more commonly known as bailouts.

Professor Sampson concluded that tariffs are being revised with the Eskom National Transmission Company of South Africa. With various role-players and shareholders coming into the picture to reduce the price of electricity reflective in a cost-effective way, it will be possible to get the fleet serviced.

Listen to the full interview here.