FOOD BASKET: Hot showers or supper — tariff hikes hit your food basket
Electricity and water tariffs have increased faster than inflation in the past 20 years, and with the latest hikes in July, households are forced to make compromises in their food purchases.
Electricity and water tariffs in South Africa have significantly increased in recent years, outpacing inflation and leaving many households struggling to make ends meet. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved 176 tariff hike applications for municipal and local authority tariffs, with increases ranging from 7.5% to 14%. In Johannesburg, a household consuming 250kWh of electricity a month will see a R56.28 increase per month, while larger households will face even greater hikes.
The electricity tariff has increased 5.3 times faster than inflation over the past 30 years, and water tariffs have risen six times faster. Despite this, the quality of water and electricity infrastructure has continued to deteriorate, leading to water interruptions and power outages. The combined effect of these hikes and infrastructure issues is deepening poverty, financial precarity, and social breakdown in communities, according to Andile Zulu, the Energy Democracy Officer at the Alternative Information Development Centre.
The recent tariff hikes make it necessary for low-income households to compromise on their food purchases, reduce meal intake, or use alternative methods for basic tasks such as cooking and bathing, which can severely damage health and safety. Women are disproportionately affected, as they are often responsible for managing household resources.
The Free Basic Electricity and Free Basic Water programmes, intended to alleviate poverty, have failed to register qualifying households as indigent, leaving many without the assistance they need.
These tariff hikes have exposed flaws in the local government fiscal framework, where municipalities struggle to recover the costs of providing services through service-based charges and property rates. The economic environment has also contributed to the problem, with joblessness increasing and wages not keeping pace with the cost of living.
As a result, municipalities have diverted funds from the local government equitable share – an unconditional grant from the national government – to cover operational costs, further undermining their ability to provide basic services.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
