“You Are Our Star”: SA Electricity Expert Breaks Down How Mzansi Can Track Electricity Usage at Home

• Wes Reddy broke down how South Africans can track electricity usage daily, weekly, and monthly using meter readings
• Eskom raised electricity tariffs by nearly 13% in 2026, making it more important than ever to monitor household consumption
• South Africans who track their meter readings can catch billing errors and avoid buying electricity at higher tariff rates

Most South Africans have no idea how much electricity they use monthly. The meter number means nothing until the bill arrives and the damage is done.

A Johannesburg expert wants to change that with surprisingly simple advice.

Wes Reddy is a renewable energy, solar and metering specialist from Johannesburg. He has made it his mission to help everyday South Africans understand their consumption. Reddy shared a straightforward method to track usage daily, weekly and monthly. It works on both old and new meters. It also applies to water meters, making it useful for households bleeding money on both utilities.

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Many South Africans are paying for units they cannot account for. Prepaid electricity rates vary from one municipality to another across South Africa. Households in different cities often pay different amounts for the same number of units. Yet most people never track how many units they use before buying more. That gap between buying and knowing is where money disappears every single month.

Reddy posted a TikTok clip on 25 March 2026 on his account @wesreddy1, breaking it all down. The process comes down to one simple sum. Take your current meter reading and subtract the previous one. The difference is your usage for that period in kilowatt-hours. No special apps required.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi appreciates the tips

Briefly News compiled some comments from the post below.

@Nenaria commented:

“I have noticed that this machine is set to use 5 units every day. Even with power cuts, those units run, how? I have had everything off for a week, fridge was off and empty because of power cuts for a week plus, so everything had to be throw out. When I got back, 30 units were gone. Everything was off at the main switches.”

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@Paule said:

“R7 a day is daylight robbery for private prepaid meters. Is it a standard rate?”

@Magdalena Louw wrote:

“Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. I learn so much from your videos.”

@Camy Chetty noted:

“You are our star, your kindness is acknowledged. Thank you, and stay blessed.”

@Tash Ramdhani commented:

“This is what I know, thank you for this. 👏🥰”

More articles involving electricity

• A Johannesburg man shared a detailed guide to help homeowners understand if their electricity consumption was low, medium or high.
• A couple’s electricity bill sparks a conversation online after they reveal how expensive their monthly power costs have become.
• A Johannesburg woman, Kulsum Suliman, revealed that her September electricity bill was R6 000, an amount that stunned her.
• A man went viral after recording himself complaining about rising electricity costs, saying what used to last two weeks now only lasts one week for the same amount of money.

Source: Briefly News