Court rules Nersa's municipal electricity hikes approval is unconstitutional

THE Gauteng High Court, Pretoria has ruled that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's (Nersa) approval for the implementation of municipal electricity tariff hikes, without the use of proper cost studies and public participation processes, is unconstitutional.

- ZELDA VENTER

The ruling was made by Judge Etienne Labuschagne at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria on Friday. The judge also slammed Nersa on its argument that customers do not have the right to know what it costs municipalities to supply them with electricity. He remarked that "how the regulator could unilaterally declare a cost of supply study as confidential is beyond concerning".

The judgment followed an urgent application by AfriForum in which it disputed the process Nersa followed to determine all municipal tariffs for this financial year, ending June next year.

Judge Labuschagne declared the electricity tariff approval process invalid for breaching constitutional and statutory obligations. He granted AfriForum's request for an interdict for specified timelines for future public participation processes. The new timelines in the municipal electricity increase process will ensure that the public has time to participate.