Please find attached soundbite in English by Soret Viljoen.
- Residents appear to be paying electricity tariff increases that exceed those approved by Council and NERSA.
- Tswaing Local Municipality has yet to refund or credit ratepayers for R13.6 million in previously identified unlawful electricity charges.
- DA calls for urgent intervention by Provincial Treasury and accountability for the municipality’s continued billing failures.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for an urgent investigation into what appears to be another instance of unlawful electricity tariff implementation by the Tswaing Local Municipality, after residents reported paying increases that exceed those approved by Council and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
Over the past decade, Tswaing unlawfully overcharged electricity consumers by an estimated R13.6 million through illegal electricity tariffs. To date, the municipality has failed to reconcile these overcharges or credit affected account holders, despite the issue having been repeatedly raised.
The DA is now receiving numerous prepaid electricity purchase slips from residents indicating that the municipality may once again be charging consumers more than what was legally approved.
At its Council meeting on 29 May 2026, Council approved a 9% increase in residential electricity tariffs and an 8.5% increase for other customer categories, in line with NERSA’s approved increases. However, prepaid customers who paid R3.69 per unit (VAT inclusive) during the 2025/26 financial year are now paying approximately R4.12 per unit, representing an increase of around 11.8%. If confirmed, this exceeds the tariff approved by both Council and NERSA and requires an urgent explanation.
These concerns arise while Tswaing remains under a Section 139(5) financial recovery intervention, having first been placed under administration in 2021, with further intervention expanded in July 2026. Despite this heightened oversight, the municipality’s billing system continues to fail residents.
The situation has been compounded by the municipality’s failure to issue municipal accounts for June 2026, reportedly because it failed to pay its billing service provider, BCX. Residents cannot reasonably be expected to trust a municipality that cannot produce accurate accounts while simultaneously charging questionable electricity tariffs.
The DA will formally write to the Provincial Executive Representative (PER) from Provincial Treasury, Mr Lucky Mosala, requesting an urgent investigation into the implementation of the municipality’s electricity tariffs, the continued failure to reconcile previous unlawful charges, and the non-issuance of June municipal accounts.
The DA will further request that appropriate action be taken should the investigation confirm financial misconduct or the failure to implement lawful Council resolutions, including consideration of disciplinary steps against officials responsible for the municipality’s financial administration.
Ratepayers should never be expected to pay more than what has been lawfully approved. The DA will continue to hold Tswaing Local Municipality accountable and fight to ensure that residents are billed fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the law.