Spiralling: Electricity tariffs have risen by more than 1 100% since 2007. In addition to consumption costs,
there are layered costs for generation, theft and non-payment, among others. Photo: Madelene Cronje
South Africans are paying more for electricity while using less of it, according to a new light paper released by residential solar provider, GoSolr.
It says the power crisis is driven not by load-shedding but by rising tariffs, fixed charges and a pricing system that punishes reduced consumption and self-generation.
The quarterly Light Paper, titled “South Africa’s Latest Power Grab”, says the electricity crisis has shifted from one primarily defined by load-shedding to another increasingly shaped by affordability pressures and escalating fixed fees.
Electricity tariffs have risen by more than 1 100% since 2007. It cites the example of a typical Eskom direct customer consuming about 800kWh who paid R1 055 in 2014 and
R3 388 in 2024 before the latest approved increases.
Electricity bills no longer reflect only the cost of energy consumed. Instead, households increasingly face layered costs including generation, grid infrastructure, municipal surcharges, diesel generation, system losses, theft and non-payment.
Consumers also shoulder indirect costs associated with unreliable electricity supply, including damaged appliances, reduced productivity, downtime, private security expenses and investments in back-up power systems such as generators, batteries and rooftop solar.
The latest tariff increases have intensified the concerns. Eskom implemented an average 8.76% increase for direct-paying customers from 1 April 2026. Municipalities are expected to implement average increases of 9.01% or so from 1 July 2026.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has also approved a further 8.83% increase for Eskom direct customers from April next year. The adjustments followed the regulator’s correction of a R54.7 billion error in Eskom’s regulatory asset base as part of a court-directed redetermination process.
However, the GoSolr paper says the biggest pressure on consumers increasingly comes not from usage charges alone but from fixed monthly fees that customers must pay to remain connected to the grid.
In Johannesburg, some three-phase post-paid customers — large residential or small business users with a high capacity three-phase electricity connection — allegedly face fixed charges of as much as R1 761 a month before using electricity. Many households across different municipalities pay fixed monthly charges exceeding R500.
Dean Van Vuuren, a homeowner in Centurion, said efforts to reduce electricity use had done little to lower his monthly bill.
“We switched off geysers, reduced usage and added solar where we could but the bill is still higher because of the fixed charges.”
Small business owner Louis Govender, who fitted solar panels in 2022 for his business in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, said installing solar panels had not shielded the business from escalating costs.
“We use less every month yet pay more and what is frustrating is that we have solar panels. It’s like we are being punished for being slightly off the grid,” Govender said.
Investigative reporting by News24 recently found that City Power accumulated about R21.6bn in electricity sales losses over six years while owing Eskom more than R5.2bn.
The report stated that City Power admitted that long-standing metering failures meant it could not accurately verify how much electricity it was receiving and being charged for by Eskom. The report found that City Power failed to inspect key intake meters despite setting targets to do so and acknowledged persistent mismatches between revenue collection and expenditure.
The findings have intensified debate around municipal tariff structures and whether pricing models are being used to compensate for operational inefficiencies, declining consumption and financial losses.
Public finance experts have warned that some municipalities risk entering what they describe as a financial “death spiral”, where falling electricity sales volumes force utilities to recover more revenue through higher tariffs and fixed charges, encouraging even more consumers to reduce grid usage or invest in self-generation.
Professor Alex van den Heever, of the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Governance, said there was “no short-term route out of the debt” and described Johannesburg as being “in a death spiral”.
The affordability crisis is also intersecting with infrastructure concerns.
Johannesburg risks losing R1.4bn in Treasury-linked funding intended for electricity infrastructure investment, maintenance and refurbishment backlogs amid governance disputes involving City Power leadership.
Critics say this highlights a growing contradiction in the electricity sector: consumers are paying significantly more while infrastructure quality and municipal financial stability remain under pressure.
The eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) in Durban, with the support of ActionSA, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party and Freedom Front Plus, marched to the City Hall on Wednesday to protest against rising municipal bills and poor service delivery. The march follows a stalemate with Mayor Cyril Xaba over tariff hikes. ERPM warned of possible wider mass action and presented an alternative budget that claims to achieve a 0% tariff increase while saving the city R263 million.
Xaba said he had written to Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina, urging Eskom and Umngeni-uThukela Water to reconsider their proposed tariffs for the 2026/27 financial year, citing them as unaffordable.
Eskom has defended the latest tariff adjustments, saying they are necessary to ensure financial sustainability and maintain reliable supply.
“We have been clear in communicating that Eskom is working to ensure that future tariff increase requests remain reasonable, recognising the affordability pressures on both residential and business customers,” group chief financial officer Calib Cassim said.
The utility has also defended increased fixed charges as necessary to recover network and infrastructure costs that continue regardless of consumption levels or whether households generate some of their own electricity.
Eskom says subsidised tariffs remain in place for qualifying low-income households.
Nersa said the approved increases followed public consultation processes and were intended to balance Eskom’s financial sustainability with consumer protection obligations under the Electricity Regulation Act.
Municipalities purchase bulk electricity from Eskom before adding their own costs, surcharges and distribution margins. However, tariff structures differ substantially between municipalities.
Johannesburg has drawn attention for steep fixed charges, while the City of Cape Town has implemented comparatively smaller increases in some categories and introduced optional time-of-use tariffs for certain consumers.
The South Africa Local Government Association has raised concerns about the pace of bulk tariff increases and warned that municipalities have limited ability to absorb rising electricity costs without affecting other municipal services.
