As from today, Johannesburg residents will pay 7% more for electricity.
Ten other municipalities, including Cape Town, asked National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) for increases ranging between 7.63% and 12.11%.
Cape Town’s proposed 7.63% electricity increase would compensate for a fall in its energy sales but additional funds would be needed for the implementation of the city’s new electrification programme.
The price increases are intended to protect revenue, cover high distribution losses, fund a smart metering pilot project, and contribute to costs of electricity infrastructure maintenance and improvement.
The power price increases are part of a slew of other hikes .
Tomorrow the price of petrol will increase by 20c/l , bringing the cost of petrol to a near record high of R14.30/l. The price of diesel will increase by 13c /l to R12.90/l.
Gautrain and Metrorail users are to be hit with fare increases.
Metrorail one-way tickets will go up by 50c today; return tickets by R1. The cost of a weekly ticket will increase by between R3 and R7 and monthly tickets will increase by between R7 and R30.
Dawie Roodt, an independent economist with the Efficient Group, said more petrol-price hikes can be expected in the next few months as the rand is expected to depreciate further and the price of crude oil is poised to rise.
The writing is on the wall for many middle-class families who have only recently escaped from dire poverty. Many will be pushed back into poverty.