R22 Billion ‘Clerical Error’

Statement by Kevin Mileham MP – DA Spokesperson on Electricity & Energy:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) reiterates our demand that the leadership of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) be urgently summoned to account for a staggering R22 billion escalation in its self-admitted “clerical error.”

This request was made in writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy on 16 January this year — to date, we have received no response.

The DA has already referred the NERSA Board to the Public Protector for a full investigation into their fitness to hold office.

This latest escalation proves that the current board is not only incapable of basic arithmetic but is actively working against the interests of the South African public.

In September 2025, NERSA admitted to a R54 billion miscalculation regarding Eskom’s revenue.

Instead of fixing the leak, the regulator has allowed this figure to balloon into a R76 billion assault on the wallets of South African consumers.

This is not just a spreadsheet mistake; it is a gross betrayal of the public trust that will force a projected 10.5% electricity price hike in 2026.

While NERSA continues to “pass the buck” to junior officials, the reality is that the regulator has become a rubber stamp for Eskom’s financial mismanagement.

This latest blunder follows a humiliating judicial rebuke in December 2025, where the High Court set aside a secret, “behind-closed-doors” settlement between NERSA and Eskom.

We are demanding a forensic explanation for:

• The R22 billion discrepancy: How a “version control” error grew by nearly 40% in just four months.
• The High Court defeat: Why NERSA attempted to bypass public participation to hide its mistakes.
• The municipal chaos: Why NERSA approved municipal tariffs for metros like Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni without the legally required Cost-of-Supply (CoS) studies, leading to them being struck down by the courts this month.

The DA is calling for a total overhaul of the regulatory environment to ensure that “state ineptitude” is no longer a line item on every South African’s electricity bill.

We demand the following concrete steps:

• Immediate Board reconstitution: We reiterate our call to the Public Protector to fast-track the investigation into the NERSA board. The current leadership has proven itself technically and ethically unfit to oversee the R1.2 trillion electricity industry.
• Forensic audit of the Regulated Asset Base (RAB): We demand an independent, third-party audit of how NERSA calculates Eskom’s assets. If they cannot get the depreciation of a power station right on a spreadsheet, they cannot be trusted to set the price of power.
• End the monopoly premium: The DA’s Energy Policy is clear — we must unbundle Eskom and fast-track the Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO). True competition is the only way to end the era of double-digit, “thumb-suck” price increases.
• Enforcement of consequence management: NERSA promised “consequence management” in September. To date, not a single senior executive has been held accountable for the R76 billion error.

The era of South Africans paying for previous ANC-led National Government’s failures and legacy of mismanagement is over.

The DA will not stand by while NERSA attempts to bill South Africans for its own technical ineptitude.

We will fight this in Parliament, through the Public Protector, and all other available avenues until the NERSA board is reconstituted and the consumer is protected.