The North Gauteng High Court has adopted the City of Cape Towns proposals to ensure that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa NERSA issues municipal electricity tariff decisions earlier each year, providing greater regulatory certainty for local distributors.
The judgment, delivered on October 31, follows an application by the City of Cape Town and AfriForum challenging the timing of NERSAs tariff approval process for the 2025/26 financial year.
The court found that NERSAs implementation of its public participation process for the 2025/26 municipal tariff applications was constitutionally invalid under Section 1721a of the Constitution. However, the court did not set aside the tariffs already approved for the 2025/26 financial year, which remain in effect.