If you thought the fight over electricity prices ended when load shedding paused, your monthly utility bill is about to face its biggest structural overhaul in nearly two decades.
The Department of Electricity and Energy has officially gazetted the Revised Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP 2026). Following widespread public pressure, Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has officially extended the public comment deadline to Wednesday, 28 October 2026. You must have your say.
This policy completely dismantles South Africa’s traditional tariff model. While the state claims it will create transparency and cost-reflectivity, the technical rules introduce major financial consequences for your home and business:
The Outline
- Mandatory Fixed Charges for All Homes: The policy shifts billing away from the electricity you actually use (c/kWh) toward mandatory monthly network and capacity connection fees. Even if you cut your consumption or install rooftop solar, you will face hefty baseline fees simply for being connected to the grid.
- Penalties on Rooftop Solar Exports: If you have grid-tied solar, you will be forced onto Time-of-Use tariffs and made to pay network distribution charges on both the electricity you consume and the excess power you export into the grid. Worse, your export credits cannot be used to offset your fixed monthly network charges.
- Discounted Industrial Deals Paid by Ratepayers: The state plans to expand below-cost Negotiated Pricing Agreements (NPAs) to industrial smelters. Energy experts warn that unless funded externally, paying households and small businesses will be forced to cover the revenue shortfall.
- Who Pays for Expanded Free Electricity? The Minister wants to raise Free Basic Electricity from 50 kWh to up to 300 kWh per month without increasing the national grant budget—raising fears that paying consumers will absorb the cost directly on their bills.
- An End to Hidden Municipal Surpluses: On a positive note, the policy cracks down on municipalities that use hidden electricity markups as slush funds and forbids utilities from passing on runaway theft and bad debts to paying consumers.
Have your say: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/pdps/
This Is Not a Petition
Petitions are routinely filed away as a single signature. Through the Dear South Africa platform, your comment is captured, formatted, and delivered as an individual legal submission that the Director-General and the Minister are constitutionally mandated to evaluate under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).
We have broken down this 68-page policy into clear, direct questions so you can have your say on the official ministerial record in under 60 seconds.
Written comments close on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.
Do not let your silence be taken as consent. Have your say right away!
Rob Hutchinson
Founder, Dear South Africa
I formally object to any change to the payment structure for electricity that increases my monthly charges .
As a pensioner , I cannot survive because of the increase of electricity, water and rates over the past 20 years .
Government are solely responsible for not maintaining these resources and the corruption that has depleted their coffers and caused increase that no South African could anticipate.
Inflation runs at 4 % ,yet, Eskom want another 13. 8 % increase in 2027 . My rates in The Ray Nkonyeni Municipality have been increased by 70 % this year.
Why must the people of SA be reduced into poverty but a government that have depleted the countries finances through miss management and corruption.
The best retirement planning is worthless as we have electricity increases that are 5 times higher than inflation in the last 10 years. The same for water and rates which we do not get efficient service delivery at all . We pay do that the fat cats can get fatter.
This is destroying the life of us South Africans.
Basic services are now viewed by government as a luxury not an essential that should be supplied to all South Africans.
The Constitution is worthless.
Surely South Africa should look at a smarter solution.
In Florida in USA the authorities capture solar power in huge solar
farms hidden in the middle of the Everglades where you can only see them with a drone.
The result is all the power is put back into the grid and everyone has reduced electricity bills.
The other benefit is you seldom see houses blighted with individual solar panes.
Is there any reason why we couldn’t do the same?