18% electricity tariff increase and 9% for water: Inside Tshwane’s 2023/2024 proposed budget

Tshwane metro municipality wants to increase its electricity tariff by 18% and water by 9.2% from July.  

This is detailed in the municipality’s proposed 2023/24 budget report which was tabled in council last week and is now open for public comment.  

The sanitation tariff is proposed to increase by 9.2%, property rates by 5% and refuse removal services by 6%.  

The municipality said in determining the tariff increases it was stuck between ensuring tariffs are affordable to residents during tough economic times and the cost of Eskom and Rand Water increases.  

The municipality plans to spend a huge amount of its R44.7bn operating expenditure budget on electricity-related services, while R14bn will be spent on bulk electricity purchases.  

The municipality also plans to spend R53.9m on other electricity services and power stations (repairs and maintenance) and R37.5m on electricity disconnections.

Employee-related costs amount to R12bn. The draft budget does not make provisions for salary increases. 

The focus on electricity takes place as the region struggles with cable theft and infrastructure vandalism. Recently about 25 suburbs of Pretoria were without electricity for days after pylons collapsed, some which were suspected to have been vandalised by criminals pillaging government infrastructure.  

Tshwane municipality council was late in tabling the budget, with other metros releasing theirs earlier this month. This was due to political turmoil after two abrupt resignations of mayors this year. 

When compared with other metros Tshwane's electricity increase is not the highest. Earlier this month, eThekwini proposed a hike of 21.91%. The City of Cape Town intends to increase tariffs by 17.6%. 

Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink recently described the metro’s finances as critical, and said it needed an aggressive revenue boost. He said financial recovery would be possible through making “bold” decisions in the next few months.  

The mayor said Tshwane would have budget cuts except in water, electricity, sewage, waste, roads, parks, public lighting, and safety services.

“We cannot continue the status quo and simply expect consumers to pay above inflation and cost-related increases. Tshwane will need to make its own set of changes to adapt to changing circumstances,” Brink said.