MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

27 September Deadline On Unfair Electricity Pricing Looms

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

South Africans are paying too much for electricity, and for once they have an opportunity to influence the rules before the next bill lands. The Department of Electricity and Energy has published the Revised Electricity Pricing Policy for public comment. Submissions close on 27 September 2026. The DA is urging South Africans to use this opportunity.

For years, electricity tariffs have risen faster than many household incomes and, repeatedly, faster than inflation. Families and businesses are expected to absorb higher costs while Eskom’s inefficiencies, legacy costs and financial failures continue to find their way into the price of electricity. We cannot allow that to be the blueprint for the future.

The current Electricity Pricing Policy dates back to 2008, when Eskom dominated a very different electricity market. Today, South Africa has private generation, rooftop solar, electricity traders, wheeling and customers increasingly able to choose where their electricity comes from. The pricing system must change with it.

The DA supports a competitive electricity market in which consumers pay a fair price for the electricity and network services they actually use. Consumers who choose an alternative supplier should not be punished simply for reducing their dependence on Eskom. Nor should new fixed and capacity charges become a back door for recovering an inefficient cost base from consumers who are trying to use less electricity or generate some of their own.

The DA will use the public participation process to demand:

  • a full affordability and bill-impact assessment;
  • strict limits and transparency around fixed and capacity charges;
  • fair treatment of households and businesses with rooftop and embedded generation;
  • transparent and time-limited treatment of legacy costs and negotiated pricing agreements; and
  • an independent assessment of whether NERSA has the capacity to regulate the new electricity market properly.

This should not be a debate between Eskom, NERSA, government and large industry alone. Every South African electricity consumer has the right to have a say.

Comments must be submitted by 27 September 2026 to:

Director-General, Department of Electricity and Energy
For attention: Mr Joseph Maraba
Email: EPP.Comments@dee.gov.za

Hand delivery: Matimba House, 192 Visagie Street, corner Paul Kruger Street, Pretoria
Post: Private Bag X96, Pretoria, 0001

Submissions should include the name and contact details of the person or organisation making the comment.

South Africans are often told what electricity will cost after the decision has been made. This time they have a chance to speak up before the rules are finalised.

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The World’s Largest Man-Made Urban Forest

One of the most surprising facts about Johannesburg is its status as a “green” city. When the first settlers arrived, the Highveld was a barren, treeless grassland (savannah). To support the mining industry, millions of trees were imported and planted to provide timber for mine underground supports. Fast forward to the present day, and Johannesburg is widely considered the largest man-made urban forest in the world.

There are an estimated 10 million trees within the city limits. This includes 1.2 million trees on sidewalks and in parks, and over 4.8 million in private gardens. This forest is so dense that satellite images of the northern suburbs often resemble a tropical rainforest. The most iconic of these trees is the Jacaranda, which was imported from South America in the early 20th century. Every October and November, the city turns a vibrant shade of purple as thousands of Jacarandas bloom simultaneously. However, this “forest” also highlights the city’s historical inequality; during the Apartheid era, trees were predominantly planted in wealthy white suburbs, leaving townships like Soweto as dusty plains. In the last two decades, “Greening Soweto” initiatives have seen hundreds of thousands of trees planted to bridge this “green divide,” emphasizing the role of urban forestry in social justice and climate cooling.