South Africa: Electricity Refund Fight Leaves Households in Limbo

What the report says

South African electricity customers in five municipalities may be affected by a legal dispute over tariff approvals, but the outcome for households remains unclear. According to Scrolla, distributed by AllAfrica, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa conceded in the Pretoria High Court that its 2025/26 tariff approvals for Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Emfuleni and Madibeng were unlawful.

The case centers on whether municipal electricity charges were calculated correctly and who should receive any credits or refunds. Large electricity users had challenged errors in the municipal calculations that Nersa had approved. In court, the parties disagreed on how any correction should be applied: Ekurhuleni said it could not afford refunds, while applicant Mpact argued adjustments should be limited to the litigants. Nersa, by contrast, said any correction should apply to all electricity users in the affected municipalities.

Judge RG Tolmay asked lawyers to submit proposals and raised the possibility of bringing in an independent expert to calculate possible overcharges. The hearing was still under way when the report was published, and no refund amount or payment timeline had been confirmed. The article also noted that similar disputes elsewhere have shown how difficult it can be to turn a court victory into practical relief on electricity accounts, though those examples involved separate cases and do not determine the outcome of this one.