Nersa ordered to comply with electricity tariff deadlines

THE City of Cape Town has welcomed a major High Court ruling that forces the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to make municipal electricity tariff decisions on time and in line with the law.

- MURRAY SWART

Judge Labuschagne delivered the judgment in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday. He found that Nersa’s public participation process for the 2025/26 financial year was unconstitutional and declared it invalid under section 172(1)(a) of the Constitution.

However, the court did not overturn existing tariff approvals, saying that doing so would cause financial instability in municipalities.

The case was brought by AfriForum, which accused Nersa of years of delays, secrecy and disorder in how it handled municipal electricity tariffs. The City of Cape Town, cited as the 14th respondent, proposed new timelines to fix the system. The court accepted these proposals and incorporated them into its order.