After obtaining an urgent interdict in June stopping Nersa from considering municipal tariff applications for 2024/25 and increases without cost studies, AfriForum demanded Nersa’s compliance by Friday.

However, says a Business Day report, Nersa did not respond.

AfriForum's Morné Mostert commented: ‘We have not received an undertaking. We will consult with our legal team on our way forward.’

Despite the June order, AfriForum said last week the regulator approved 178 municipalities’ applications, ‘even though not all of these municipalities submitted the required cost studies’.

Nersa then lodged a leave to appeal application, suspending the June order.

‘Municipalities have been charging the new electricity tariff increases on their residents’ power consumption,’ said AfriForum.

In its June court papers, Mostert said a previous court judgment gave Nersa until October 2023 to correct its unlawful tariff calculation methodology but AfriForum said this had not been done. The judgment ‘also prohibited Nersa from applying the (unlawful) method when considering and approving ... tariffs with effect from the 2024/25 financial year’.

That year started on 1 July.

Mostert said that although attempts were made ‘to change its method’, Nersa was ‘applying the same ... unlawful methodology’.

That methodology is known as the ‘guideline and benchmarking method’. The regulatory framework, AfriForum argues, requires Nersa to use the ‘cost of supply method’.

The first method involves complicated calculations relating to increasing previous year’s benchmark tariffs per municipality.

Full Business Day report