Your bill quietly rises by 77.5%

ESKOM: UTILITY'S 12.7% HIKE BITES DEEP – BUT ELECTRICITY MINISTER NOW WANTS EVEN MORE

- Jarryd Westerdale, Enkosi Selane & Thando Nondywana

Eskom's annual increase of 12.7% bit deeply into household budgets yesterday — with the reality of a shocking 77.5% hike in power prices in just five years. Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa wants even more.

He is asking for another R440 billion, or 20% of South Africa's gross domestic product, to expand the grid.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) last month approved Eskom's hike request: direct customers will pay a 12.7% increment until 31 March next year, while municipal customers will face an 11.32% increase starting on 1 July.

The increase is the first in a three-year staggered increase granted to Eskom by Nersa in January.

Little consolation can be taken from Nersa having rejected Eskom's initial application, as by 2027, the compounded increase will be comparable to the 32% requested.

Heaping on a value-added tax (VAT) increase to boot, the gradual increases chip away at every household's disposable income, delivering bad news in a slow drip that does not abruptly shock ratepayers into action.