---
title: "Hot showers or supper — tariff hikes hit your food basket"
description: "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."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "FOOD BASKET"
author: "Lillian Roberts"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/lillian-roberts/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-31-tariff-hikes-choose-between-hot-water-or-food/"
published: "2026-07-31T13:42:26"
updated: "2026-07-31T13:45:49"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1013
---

# 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.

By Lillian Roberts · Published 31 July 2026, 15:42 SAST · Updated 31 July 2026, 15:45 SAST

## Key points
- Electricity tariffs increased across 176 municipalities from 1 July 2026 , with hikes ranging from 7.5% in Cape Town to 14% in Buffalo City , adding between R56 and R122 a month to typical Johannesburg household bills.
- Electricity and water costs have far outpaced inflation over the past three decades, while ageing infrastructure continues to cause power outages and water interruptions, placing greater financial strain on households.
- Energy poverty advocates warn that rising utility costs will deepen poverty, force families to cut back on essentials, and push some towards unsafe alternatives such as illegal electricity connections or using wood, coal and paraffin.
- Experts argue current free basic electricity allocations are inadequate , calling for increased support for indigent households and new funding measures, including wealth taxes, to make essential services more affordable.

## Content

From 1 July 2026, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved 176 municipal and local authority tariff hike applications. Increases in electricity tariffs range from 7.5% (City of Cape Town) to 14% (Buffalo City), depending on your municipality.

In Johannesburg, a household consuming 250kWh of electricity a month will now have an [increase of R56.28 a month](https://capetimes.co.za/the-star/news/2026-07-02-johannesburg-households-brace-for-new-electricity-tariffs-amid-rising-costs/), making the bill about R680. This is a small household using appliances and an electric geyser with modest hot water use. Larger households will face an increase of R122 a month.

In terms of electricity tariffs, [Ekhurleni increased by 12.70%, Mangaung Municipality by 9.90% and Nelson Mandela Bay by 10.09%](https://mybroadband.co.za/news/industrynews/656286-new-electricity-tariff-hikes-for-july-heres-how-to-beat-the-price-increases.html).

![MC-Food-Basket-July](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/k8z7oSW4We38HxhTt-0uvLQf8aA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/tariffincreases_822958.jpg)

*(Graphic: Lillian Roberts)*

From 1996 to 2026, electricity tariffs increased [5.3 times faster than inflation, and water tariffs six times faster than inflation](https://poweroptimal.com/2026-update-municipal-water-electricity-tariff-increases-vs-inflation-since-1996/). All while water and electricity infrastructure have continued to degrade, leading to water interruptions and power outages.

An electricity and water bill that cost [R638 in 1996, effectively cost R2,028 in 2020](https://poweroptimal.com/the-price-of-water-and-electricity-in-south-africa-a-tale-of-two-tragedies/).

With the expanded definition of [unemployment sitting at 43.7%](https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2025.pdf), stagnant economic growth and [recent increases to inflation](https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=19757), hikes in electricity and water tariffs “deepen poverty, financial precarity and the social breakdown of communities”, Andile Zulu, the Energy Democracy Officer at the Alternative Information Development Centre, told Daily Maverick.

The scale and crises of poverty became shocking when one considered that [66.7% of the population](https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03101/P031012025.pdf) lived below the upper-bound poverty line (R2,846 per month), he added.

“South Africans living in poverty having to face tariff increases will be compelled to make more painful compromises in how they (as individuals or households) utilise what little income they have,” Zulu said.

“Millions of households will have to reduce their meal intake or their use of hot water for basic tasks or needs in a home. In regards to electricity, historic and continued tariff hikes mean dangerous alternatives such as illegal connections or the use of wood, coal and or paraffin (to cook meals or bathe) severely damage health and undermine the safety of homes and low-income communities.”

Research had shown that there was a [gendered element to the poor provision, or unstable and inaccessible access to, water and electricity](https://aidc.org.za/austerity-is-a-feminist-issue-report/). Women were left to take care of the household. Basic services and electricity becoming increasingly unaffordable meant that the responsibility only deepened, Zulu said.

![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/hC7iW_KlVo6teYmphSotCgRhwUM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Food-prices-June-July-2026_194050.jpg)

Maverick Citizen has been tracking the prices of 14 basic food items that can be bought with the R370 SRD grant.

From June to July, Daily Maverick’s food basket decreased by R2, costing R412.86. This is due to rice, maize-meal and bread costing less, while sugar has increased in price. At R412.86 the food basket is still R40 more than the R370 SRD grant.

The [Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity’s Household Affordability Index](https://pmbejd.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/July-2026-Household-Affordability-Index-PMBEJD_29072026.pdf) tracks a broader basket of 44 basic food items. In July, its household food basket cost R5,530.52, an increase of R28.11 since June.

The index also tracks the prices of core foods bought first, such as maize meal, rice and cake flour, which have decreased in cost since 2025.

### **Only 2.8-million registered as indigent**

![MC-Food-Basket-July](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/q2VTnGjBnYqknsNo2IZ-pF9GNM0=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Indigenthouseholds_656501.jpg)

*(Graphic: Lillian Roberts)*

“The statistics are a shameful indictment of the systemic failures of interventions such as the Free Basic Electricity programme and the Free Basic Water programme,” Zulu said.

“The failure of municipalities to register qualifying households as indigent is not merely a result of poor oversight, negligence or corruption. Combined with low administrative capacity, these are realities that undermine good governance but not primary factors that result in municipalities failing to meet their mandate to alleviate poverty,” he added.

The Alternative Information Development Centre [2025 report on Energy Poverty](https://aidc.org.za/energy-poverty-the-just-transition-and-market-reform-in-south-africa/) examined the issue of basic service provision.

There was a flaw within the local government fiscal framework, Zulu explained, where for decades, municipalities have struggled to recover the costs of providing services through service-based charges and property rates. This was a consequence of a low-growth economic environment where joblessness had increased and wages were not able to meet the cost of living, leading to municipalities being in debt, maintenance backlogs, weak operational capacity and decaying infrastructure.

Consequently, municipalities diverted funds from the local government equitable share – an unconditional grant from the national government, meant to help fund basic services for poor households. These funds were then used to cover operational costs like paying staff, contractors and maintenance.

### **Households need 300kWh per month**

“It is important to recognise that the level of provision within the Free Basic Electricity and Free Basic Water programmes are not adequate to realistically meet the needs of a household in a modern economy. For example, currently the Free Basic Electricity programme provides a standard 50 kWh to 60kWh per month, and up to 120kWh per month.”

Although it varied depending on the size of a household and the location, estimates put standard household electricity needs between 300-600kWh per month, he explained.

Structural reforms such as [Operation Vulindlela](https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/node/4892) and the [Metro Trading Services Reform programme](https://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/speeches/2025/2025%20%20Metro%20Trading%20Services%20Reform%20Engagement%20FAQ.pdf) would most likely mean sharper increases to tariffs in the medium to long term, he said.

“These policy changes seek to further commodify public goods and commercialise the operation of municipalities by managing utility services as business operations that will implement cost-reflective tariffs. Cost recovery has shown no meaningful success in numerous local governments across the country. Public goods must be treated as public goods – universally accessible, sustainably funded and democratically governed.”

The Alternative Information Development Centre suggested ring-fencing the funding of Free Basic Services, and increasing the amount of Free Basic Electricity per household. Zulu added that the government must explore new avenues of funding: curbing tax evasion, illicit financial flows, implementing a wealth tax and increasing property taxation on high-value properties.

Released on 4 June 2026, the[Global Justice Report](https://globaljusticeproject.wid.world) suggested the same thing **–** wealth taxes on the ultra-rich. It also proposed lessening working hours by 50%, less red meat in diets, and investing in education and health over industry and mining. Through this, living standards could be raised, inequality reduced and climate change kept within the targeted 2°C rise. **DM**