City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that electricity tariffs for ratepayers would increase by 17.6%. A slightly more contained figure than that of Eskom’s increase.
This comes after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) approved Eskom’s 18.65% electricity tariff hike for Eskom direct customers (including municipalities) this month.
The hike will take effect on 1 April 2023.
The mayor made the announcement while presenting the City’s R70 billion budget for the 2023/24 financial year.
Also read: Cape Town mayor tables the draft budget for 2023/24
Hill-Lewis said that he understood that the cost of living was increasingly high, as many ratepayers tried to keep up with many other expenses.
However, he said that the current electricity hike was still lower than what people under Eskom would pay.
Hill-Lewis expressed that the City would offer more protection from the Eskom-driven price hikes to lower-income customers on the City’s subsidised Lifeline tariff.
‘So those people who are on our lifeline tariff, which means they are our poor residents, people who are already struggling at the moment to make ends meet, they get a huge discount in electricity, up to 600 units. We’ve raised that limit to 600 units, which is quite a lot, it used to be 350 and now it’s 600.’
Following shifts in the budget, customers who consume more than 350 units and currently pay a tariff of R3.71 will now pay R1.84.
The mayor also announced that the City would be raising the property value criteria for Lifeline customers to compensate for residents’ property value growth.
The raised property value criteria will stand at R500 000, R100 000 more than the previous value.
Additionally, the broader plan to end loadshedding will see the City spend R2.3 billion on mitigation efforts through city-owned solar plants, the Power Heroes voluntary energy savings incentive scheme, buying power on the open market, and battery storage technology.
Also read:
The City’s draft budget commits R2.3 billion to mitigate loadshedding
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