Wheels in motion for power tariff hike

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has asked Parliament to table the electricity tariff increase schedule for municipal customers for the 2024-25 financial year.

He said: “I request the annual average price increase and ‘the schedule of standard prices for Eskom tariffs for municipalities’ be tabled in Parliament on or before March 15, 2024, as contemplated in the Municipal Finance Management Act, to allow for the implementation from July 1, 2024.”

This emerged in letters he wrote to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo.

The increase is a sequel to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) decision on Eskom’s multi-year price determination revenue application for the 2024 and 2025 financial years.

Nersa’s correspondence reads: “The Nersa decision on the average price increase to be applied to Eskom’s standard tariffs inclusive of the approved additional revenues for 2024/25 is 12.74%.”

Gordhan said the Nersa-approved increase would be implemented on April 1 for Eskom’s direct customers.

The increase for municipal customers would occur on July 1.

DA MP Mimmy Gondwe lashed out at the government for authorising the double-digit electricity price increase for 2024, saying South Africans were struggling to make ends meet as a result of the high cost of living.

“In just two years, consumers will see their electricity bills increase by 31% whilst also experiencing a corresponding increase in the number of hours that they spend in the dark due to load shedding,” Gondwe said.

Gondwe added that the country ran the risk of experiencing an exponential increase in energy poverty.

Cape Times