Govan Mbeki Municipality corrects incorrectly implemented electricity tariffs
Households were overcharged by up to 12.8 kWh per meter per month, with the lowest variance at 0.1 kWh.
Following a letter from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), the executive mayor of Govan Mbeki Municipality, Nhlakanipho Zuma requested on November 8 that the council approve the correction of electricity tariffs that were incorrectly implemented for the 2024/25 financial year.
Zuma explained that the council had approved a 9.86% electricity tariff increase through resolution A052/05/2024, which was also approved by NERSA.
However, a review of the implemented tariffs later revealed that the applied increase exceeded the approved 9.86% when compared to the previous year’s tariff structure.
According to Zuma, an error in the approval sent by NERSA resulted in incorrect tariff implementation. Due to public complaints and internal verification, the Revenue Management Section had to adjust the tariffs to ensure alignment with what should have been approved.
In terms of the National Energy Regulator Act, Act 40 of 2004, NERSA is responsible for approving electricity tariff increases for all licensed distributors. Any deviation from approved tariffs constitutes a contravention of municipal licence conditions.
Although the municipality implemented tariffs based on NERSA’s approval, it was later found that the Block 2 tariff had been incorrectly reflected as R232.60 instead of R219.88, which exceeded the approved increase.
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Zuma said that following public concerns and internal assessments, the Revenue Management Section initiated corrective action to realign the tariff structure with the approved percentage.
“This adjustment was necessary to ensure compliance with NERSA’s determination and to maintain the integrity of the municipality’s revenue management and billing systems,” Zuma said.
The municipality’s review found that the maximum overcharge per meter per month was R43.95, while the lowest was R0.15.
In terms of energy units, households were overcharged by up to 12.8 kWh per meter per month, with the lowest variance at 0.1 kWh.
Zuma further noted that there was a delay in implementing the 2024/25 electricity tariffs on the Region 1 vending system (Empower Machite).
This affected prepaid purchases made on July 1 and 2, 2024, resulting in an under-recovery of R70 321.51 in prepaid revenue.
He added that the correction ensures compliance with NERSA’s determination, the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), the Municipal Systems Act, and the National Energy Regulator Act.
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Zuma requested that the council acknowledge the incorrect application of the tariff increase during the current financial year and condone the deviation.
He also asked the council to approve the correction of the tariffs to align them with the 9.86% NERSA-approved increase and adopt the amended 2024/25 Electricity Tariff Book.
Brennan Williams, a Secunda resident, was concerned about the charges on his prepaid electricity meter. Williams said he knew that appliances which provide light and heat were becoming more expensive, but he accused the municipality of charging him almost twice the regulated NERSA rates set by the government.
“The municipality quotes the cost in cents per kWh, and the images on my receipt for my R1 000 electricity purchase show a unit cost of up to R6 per unit,” said Williams.
The DA councillor in Govan Mbeki, Portia Mpatlanyane, asked why the municipality and NERSA picked up the discrepancy only now.
“Our municipality’s officials have failed us, and this proves that we have employed incompetent people. As the council, we only approve documents that are prepared by the administration, as we believe they are professional in what they do. The question is how the document was sent to NERSA with errors,” said Mpatlanyane.
