Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa Acknowledges Electricity Too Expensive for Average Person

• Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said average people cannot afford electricity
• He spoke during the African National Congress’s lekgotla in Mpumalanga and promised that electricity would not go up by 35%
• South Africans did not believe him and some complained of the high tariffs and the constant power outages plaguing the country

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, cabinet reshuffles, the State of the Nation Address, Parliament and Parliamentary committees, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

MPUMALANGA — Electricity minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is aware of how expensive it is for an average person to buy electricity. He also said it is expensive for businesses, and promised that electricity tariffs would not increase by 35%.

Ramokgopa on electricity affordability

Ramokgopa was speaking during the African National Congress (ANC) Lekgotla which was held in Mpumalanga for two days, beginning on 25 January 2025. He said that the government is trying to design a way to ensure that electricity is affordable. He also noted that the electricity tariff increase that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) proposed is too high and cannot be sustained.

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Ramokgopa promises lighter tariff hikes

Ramokgopa said the proposed 36% tariff increase will not see the light of day. He said the electricity increase should be much lower than that because of the submissions that the government has made to NERSA.

What you need to know about tariff hikes

• NERSA approved an 18.65% increase for the 2024/25 financial year in January 2024 and an energy expert weighed in
• Eskom proposed an electricity tariff hike of up to 44% in June
• The South African Federation of Trade Unions opposed Eskom’s proposed tariff hikes in the same month

Netizens weighed in

South Africans commenting on Facebook did not want a tariff increase.

Relebohile Lekoele said:

“There shouldn’t be any increase. It cannot be that every financial year there is an increase.”

Mo Hale said:

“That renewable energy nonsense is the one that is still going to milk us dry.”

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Moeng Bra Zakes Pole said:

“It might not be 35% but surely there will be an increase.”

Faizel Dawood said:

“There shouldn’t be any hike at all!”

Omusha Sneh Mfiso said:

“Why are they mentioned in the first place?”

South Africans unhappy with City Power’s tariff increase

In a related article, Briefly News reported that City Power announced a new R200 monthly deduction from prepaid electricity recharges for middle and high-income earners. The surcharge is meant to cover network and service charges.

South Africans were furious and slammed the government for implementing what they called an unfair tariff increase.

“This is just another way to squeeze money out of us. We are already paying high tariffs,” a resident said.

Source: Briefly News