NERSA Loses Court Battle Over Unlawful Municipal Electricity Price Hikes

• The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled against the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA) approval of municipal electricity tariff increases
• The ruling came after AfriForum filed an urgent application challenging the process NERSA had followed
• The judge declared NERSA’s electricity tariff approval process invalid, finding that it violated constitutional and statutory obligations

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled on Friday, 31 October 2025, that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA) approval of municipal electricity tariff hikes, carried out without proper cost studies and public participation, is unconstitutional.

What did the judgment say?

Judge Etienne Labuschagne criticised NERSA for saying customers don’t have the right to know how much it costs municipalities to supply electricity, calling it “beyond concerning” that such information was kept confidential. The ruling followed an urgent application by AfriForum, which challenged the way NERSA set municipal electricity tariffs for the current financial year ending in June 2026.

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Judge Labuschagne ruled that the electricity tariff approval process was invalid for violating constitutional and statutory obligations. He approved AfriForum’s request to set specific timelines for future public participation, ensuring the public has adequate opportunity to engage in the municipal electricity increase process.

The court ruling also requires the energy regulator to announce Eskom’s latest tariffs, which municipalities use to purchase power, by 31 January 2026. All final tariff applications must be submitted to NERSA by March 2026 to allow enough time for proper public participation.

The judge reportedly issued a provisional order, giving a return date of 18 November 2025, and invited all interested parties, including the 158 municipalities, to explain why the proposed timelines should not be implemented. Judge Labuschagne noted in his judgment that, in some cases, no public participation took place before tariff increases were approved. He highlighted Mogale City’s application, which was published on 19 June 2025, yet NERSA approved the tariff the next day.

Approval needs to be timely

NERSA had argued that delays by municipalities sometimes forced it to bypass the standard public participation process. The judge said that a municipality’s electricity tariffs are a key part of its budget and cannot be treated lightly. He stated that since NERSA must approve electricity tariffs, such approval needs to be timely, and the related information should be provided early enough for municipalities to finalise their budgets before 1 July 2026.

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Judge Labuschagne noted that the cost of the supply study is a public document meant for both public and official scrutiny. While the court ruled the process invalid, it chose not to overturn the electricity tariff approvals already granted for 2026. Going forward, NERSA must adhere to the timelines established by the court.

3 More stories about NERSA

• Briefly News also reported that Johannesburg electricity expert shared alarming news about NERSA admitting they made a huge calculation error that will result in much higher electricity price increases.
• The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has warned that communities could resort to illegal connections to survive the high electricity tariff.
• Eskom has warned that there could be loadshedding this weekend, which could rise to Stage 4.

Source: Briefly News