Page Up and Page Down move to the next and the previous section.
Eskom's price increases are set by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). NERSA approved 8.76% for Eskom direct customers and 9.01% for municipal distributors for 2026/27. Municipalities apply their increases from 1 July because the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) requires tariff changes to start at the beginning of the municipal financial year. The rises followed a 12.7% increase in 2024/2025 and 12.74% in 2025/2026. This year's figure was pushed up by a correction. The earlier tariff decision contained a calculation error, so Eskom will recover R54.7 billion over three financial years, starting with R12 billion in 2026/27. Eskom's increase for 2027/28 is already set at 8.83%.
The City of Cape Town's own explainer says it limited Eskom's national 9.01% increase to an average of 6.64% in Cape Town. It also says 70% of tariff income goes to buying bulk energy from Eskom. The City says Eskom's annual hikes of more than 900% over the last twenty years are the main driver of price rises. Independent reports of the City's average increase vary, so the exact figure depends on the tariff and how much a household uses. For 2026/27 the City also introduced a Residential Time-of-Use tariff.
The City is trying to reduce its dependence on Eskom. It says the first power purchase agreements are already in place under an initial 200MW procurement phase. Its budget documents also point to a projected 1.1% fall in sales volumes, driven partly by continued growth in small-scale embedded generation (rooftop solar) installations. This matters because electricity bills are a large part of household and business costs, and Eskom's tariffs affect all municipalities.
