KEY POINTS
- Nersa admitted to a R54 billion miscalculation in Eskom’s revenue determination.
- Civil groups Outa and AfriForum condemned the secrecy and warned of tariff hikes of up to 9%.
- Opposition parties demanded accountability, saying consumers cannot be forced to pay for state mistakes.
South Africa’s energy regulator admitted to Parliament this week that it made a multi-billion-rand blunder in calculating Eskom’s allowable revenue, a mistake that could saddle households and businesses with sharply higher electricity bills in the years ahead.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) told lawmakers on Wednesday it had underestimated Eskom’s costs in its sixth multi-year price determination, effectively shortchanging the utility in its revenue allowance. That R54 billion miscalculation, which dates back to January, was quietly corrected through a settlement with Eskom earlier this year.
Nersa officials acknowledged they identified the error months ago but failed to disclose it or amend their ruling until Eskom challenged the determination. “The error is regrettable. It should not have happened,” Nomfundo Maseti, a Nersa executive, said in testimony. She added that staff responsible have been suspended and new quality-control measures were introduced to prevent a repeat.
Chairperson Thembani Bukula told MPs the figure was the result of a clerical oversight, not incompetence, arguing that it represented revenue Eskom should have received in the first place. His assurances, however, did little to calm political parties or civil society. Kevin Mileham, energy spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance, dismissed the explanation and vowed his party would press for accountability. “Consequence management is not a suggestion; it is an absolute necessity,” he said.
Civil Groups Threaten Legal Action Over Tariff Fallout
Civil organizations warned that the error could translate into steep electricity tariff hikes of nearly 9% in the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years, exacerbating pressure on households already squeezed by rising living costs.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and AfriForum condemned the regulator’s secretive settlement with Eskom, which only became public after media reports. Outa’s executive director, Advocate Stefanie Fick, said the decision had “bread-and-butter consequences” for families and small businesses. “Increased tariffs mean a person has less cash available to buy groceries. In some instances, it becomes electricity or food,” she said. “Businesses close down, and big business leaves South Africa.”
Fick said Outa was consulting lawyers with the intention of intervening in the case “in the public interest.” AfriForum echoed those concerns, questioning the constitutionality of Nersa’s actions and arguing that the regulator had undermined its mandate of transparency and accountability.
The revelations land at a precarious moment for South Africa’s energy landscape. Eskom, which supplies about 90% of the country’s electricity, is struggling to stabilize an aging fleet that has triggered years of rolling blackouts. Critics say the R54 billion error and the secrecy around it reflect deeper governance failures that threaten investor confidence and household resilience alike.
