South Africans Compare Prepaid Power Costs as R1,000 Buys 185 Units in Alberton
Updated
Updated · Cape Town ETC · Aug 13
South Africans Compare Prepaid Power Costs as R1,000 Buys 185 Units in Alberton
1 articles · Updated · Cape Town ETC · Aug 13
Summary
Viral TikTok and Reddit posts are driving South Africans to compare prepaid electricity costs after residents showed the same spend can buy sharply different unit totals across municipalities.
User examples highlighted the gap: R1,000 bought 185 units in Alberton, while R400 bought 69 units elsewhere; others reported R100 for 25 units and R2,000 for 369 kWh.
Cape Town residents also face a fixed prepaid service charge of R2.46 a day, or about R74 a month and nearly R898 a year, before using any electricity.
Those costs have risen with NERSA-approved municipal tariff increases of 18.49% in 2023/24 and 9.01% for 2026/27, pushing some households toward solar and tighter control of heavy users like geysers.