By Rorisang Modiba
- Nersa settled with Eskom to recover R76-billion from electricity users after admitting to calculation errors in its tariff determinations.
- AfriForum and the Minerals Council challenged the settlement in court, arguing it was reached without public consultation and lacked transparency.
Electricity users across South Africa are waiting to hear how much more they will pay for power in 2026.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) is expected to announce its final decision on or around 30 January 2026. The price increase could be as high as 10.5%.
The increase was supposed to be 5.4%. But Nersa made mistakes in its calculations. It left out billions of rands.
In late 2025, Nersa reached a settlement with Eskom. The deal was done behind closed doors. It allowed Eskom to recover R54-billion from customers. This would have pushed the increase to 8.8%.
AfriForum and the Minerals Council of South Africa took the settlement to court. They said the deal was made without asking the public. They also said Nersa did not explain how it got to the R54-billion figure.
Nersa said public consultation was not needed because it was just fixing a mistake. The court disagreed. It ruled that the public would be affected. It ordered Nersa to consult with people.
During the consultation process, the error turned out to be even bigger. The revised amount owed to Eskom was R76-billion. This could push the 2026 electricity price increase to 10.5%.
AfriForum submitted a response to Nersa before the 21 January deadline. The organisation said Eskom’s tariff structure unfairly puts the cost of past failures onto consumers.
AfriForum said South Africans cannot keep paying higher electricity prices to cover failures. The group said it would take more action if needed.
Pictured above: Electricity infrastructure.
Image source: File
