Nelson Mandela Bay residents waiting for electricity refunds, rebates or free tokens will have to wait a little longer.
This as the municipality said the bulk of outstanding payments would only be processed in September, as it races to resolve technical glitches following a court-ordered tariff overhaul.
In August, the municipality said it had formally applied to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) for approval of the tariff amendments required to comply with the Gqeberha high court order directing it to restore the inclining block tariff (IBT).
The city wants to reinstate the inclining block electricity tariff and is sticking to the council-approved 2026/2027 10.95% electricity tariff increase.
The court ordered the municipality earlier in August to reverse its decision to replace the IBT with a single flat electricity tariff and to credit affected consumers for additional amounts they had paid since July 1.
The application follows an urgent court challenge by the DA, which took the municipality to court over the decision to scrap the IBT and replace it with a flat tariff.
The order gave the municipality 30 days to obtain the necessary regulatory approval, with any extension applying retrospectively from July 1.
On Friday, the city said no qualifying customer had been left out, but admitted that different vending platforms and payment channels had resulted in uneven processing times.
“The municipality wishes to assure all qualifying residents that comprehensive records exist within municipal billing and vending systems to identify consumers who qualify for refunds, rebates or free electricity allocations.
“Residents who have not yet received a refund, credit or free electricity token should not be concerned that they have been excluded from the process.
“All qualifying customers remain part of the ongoing implementation programme.
“A coordinated implementation programme involving revenue management, information technology, electricity and energy, finance and customer care is currently underway to ensure that all qualifying transactions are identified, verified and processed accurately.
“This forms part of the municipality’s broader implementation of the court order and the restoration of the IBT framework.
“The municipality recognises that some residents have experienced different outcomes,” the city said in a statement.
The municipality abolished the IBT at the start of the 2026/2027 financial year after council approved an average electricity tariff increase of 10.95%.
Under the previous system, households paid R3.48/kWh for the first 250 units, R4.12/kWh for 251 to 500 units, and R4.57/kWh for consumption above 500 units, including VAT.
The new flat tariff of R4.50/kWh meant households using fewer than 250 units faced an effective 29% increase, while those using between 251 and 500 units faced an 18.7% increase.
The municipality said that various technical programming and system integration processes were being finalised.
“Certain vending outlets and payment channels have only recently come online for refund processing, while others are being phased in as implementation milestones are completed.
“As a result, residents may experience different processing timelines depending on the platform through which electricity was purchased.
“Residents do not need to submit separate applications or claims for qualifying refunds or rebates.
“The municipality is identifying affected customers through its own billing and vending records.
“Municipal records and system data are being used to identify all affected accounts and meters.
“Once the verification and programming processes have been completed, qualifying refunds and credits will be processed automatically.
“The municipality anticipates that the bulk of outstanding refund and rebate processing will take place during September.”
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