No more 'secret' price hikes?

'Secret' electricity price hikes in South Africa have been curbed in a game-changing court ruling, explains Felix Dube, lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Venda.

- Felix Dube

A recent high court judgment could be a game changer for the setting of municipal electricity tariffs in South Africa.

In late October 2025, the court ruled that the process used by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to decide yearly electricity price hikes was unconstitutional because it stifled public participation and violated the right to fair administrative action.

This means that the way municipalities decide on annual electricity price increases will change. Everyone who uses electricity will now be able to see how price increases are justified. Municipalities will be compelled to publish key financial documents used to justify price increases.

The judgment also forces municipalities to plan far ahead by setting strict new deadlines for tariff applications.

Nersa is the regulatory authority for South Africa's electricity, gas and fuel industries. It has to approve all bulk electricity tariffs proposed by Eskom, the state-owned energy provider. But it also has to do this transparently in a way that allows public input.

The court found that Nersa had failed on this point. Its process was consistently late and secretive, which meant the public didn’t have a good chance to give feedback on proposals to hike electricity prices.

Afriforum, an advocacy group for South Africa's Afrikaner population, took Nersa to court because over a number of years, the regulator had recommended high price hikes without justifying this publicly.

For Nersa, the judgment means that it can no longer ignore rules that say it must consult the public. It will also need to do this in future according to a strict, court-ordered timetable.

I'm a legal academic who researches how the constitution promotes accountability, justice and rights such as the right to fairly priced electricity.