The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns in the strongest possible terms, the decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to approve even steeper electricity tariff increases for Eskom following court intervention. This decision once again confirms that the working class and the poor are being punished for the failures, incompetence, and mismanagement of state institutions.
This latest decision follows NERSA’s admission that it made serious calculation errors in its earlier tariff determinations and was compelled by a court ruling to reassess its decision. NERSA has therefore revised the increases upwards, approving electricity tariff hikes of 8.76% from April 2026 and 8.83% from April 2027, significantly higher than the previously approved 5.36% and 6.19% for those years. South Africans are now expected to pay more simply because the regulator failed to do its job properly in the first place.
This escalation comes on top of the already approved 12.74% increase implemented in April 2025, which the EFF vehemently opposed. Taken together, these increases represent a sustained and deliberate transfer of the costs of Eskom’s failures onto ordinary households, small businesses, and the broader economy. At a time when unemployment, food inflation, transport costs, and stagnant wages are pushing millions into desperation, these tariff hikes amount to an economic assault on the poor.
What makes this situation even more offensive is that Eskom has been bailed out repeatedly using public funds precisely because of years of corruption, looting, and gross mismanagement. Billions of rands taken from the public purse have been injected into Eskom to stabilise its balance sheet, yet the same public is now forced to pay again through relentless electricity price increases. South Africans are effectively being charged twice, first as taxpayers, and again as electricity consumers.
Despite this, Eskom now boasts about returning to “profitability” as if this is a victory worth celebrating. This narrative is both dishonest and dangerous. Eskom is a stateowned entity, not a private corporation. Its primary mandate is to provide reliable, affordable, and uninterrupted electricity to drive economic development and improve the quality of life for the people — not to extract profit from households already in distress. Profitability achieved through higher tariffs imposed on the poor is pure exploitation.
The EFF rejects the false logic advanced by NERSA and Eskom that electricity must continuously become more expensive to ensure “financial sustainability.” The people did not cause Eskom’s debt, loot Eskom, or mismanage generation capacity. Yet it is the people who are forced to carry the burden of institutional failure while executives and politicians congratulate themselves.
This latest tariff approval further exposes the emptiness of claims that the energy crisis has been resolved. While Eskom celebrates the so-called end of loadshedding, working-class communities continue to experience load reduction, unreliable supply, and disconnections. Electricity remains unevenly distributed along class lines, with poor communities suffering the most while affluent areas remain protected.
The EFF calls for an immediate halt to future tariff increases and a fundamental review of NERSA’s tariff determination framework,and Eskom’s sustainability model. South Africa must also invest decisively in publicly owned, renewable energy infrastructure that reduces costs and guarantees energy security. Electricity must be treated as a basic necessity and a public good, not a commodity.
The EFF has expressed solidarity with various social movements and labor unions.
Curio
Sudan: You have two cows. The southern one ran away because it contains more beef.
street squirrel
Van is hitch-hiking and he gets picked up by a larnie in a merc. After travelling awhile and making small talk, Van asks the larnie what the 3-pointed star on the bonnet is for. The larnie decides to have some fun with Van.
\”Oh, that\’s the sights, you know, for aiming. When I see someone on the side of the road and I want to run him over, I just line him up in the sights.\”