The next Joburg council will not have long to show what it will do about your bills.
Eskom has asked municipalities to charge 8.84% more for electricity from 1 July 2027, according to Joburg Etc. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) is due to decide on 26 November.
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Then it is the council's turn. A court ruling, reported by The Conversation, says municipalities must send their full electricity tariff requests to Nersa by 30 March every year.
Nersa must finish its decisions by 5 May. New tariffs start at the beginning of the financial year, on 1 July.
That leaves a new council only a few months to settle in and decide.
In July 2026 the City of Johannesburg raised electricity by 8.63%, according to eNCA. Nersa said Eskom's price to municipalities rose by an average 9.01% from the same date.
Not everyone in Johannesburg buys power from the city. ActionSA's Gauteng caucus leader said many households in Soweto get electricity directly from Eskom. For them, an increase would start earlier, on 1 April 2027.
The council itself is still unclear. Reuters reported on 4 November that no party was expected to win an outright majority in Johannesburg. Parties have two weeks from the declaration of results to form a coalition.
DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille has promised to fix the billing system and spend money paid for water on water. She also said the city will not be fixed in her first 100 days.
Until a coalition is settled, what you pay from July 2027 is an open question.
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