Money Desk
Homeowners Face Triple Costs for Private Utilities
South African homeowners are facing a triple financial burden as they pay for municipal rates, private utility backups, and additional municipal…
South Africa has more than nine gigawatts of privately installed rooftop solar capacity.
Municipal Borehole Charges Compared
Domestic property owners in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, are billed R406.50 a month for each borehole, while commercial properties pay R877.12 per borehole each month. Mbombela’s commercial charge is R470.62 more than its domestic rate.
| Municipality | Property category or condition | Monthly charge per borehole |
|---|---|---|
| Mbombela, Mpumalanga | Domestic | R406.50 |
| Mbombela, Mpumalanga | Commercial | R877.12 |
| Mangaung, Free State | Property without a public water meter | R70 |
| Abaqulusi Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal | Borehole | R133 |
Mangaung in the Free State applies a R70 monthly borehole fee specifically to properties that do not have public water meters. The charge is R336.50 less each month than Mbombela’s domestic borehole rate.
Abaqulusi Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal charges R133 per month for boreholes. That is R63 more than Mangaung’s fee and R273.50 less than the domestic charge in Mbombela.
For a household billed throughout a full year, Mbombela’s domestic fee amounts to R4,878 per borehole. The corresponding annual totals are R840 for a qualifying property in Mangaung and R1,596 in Abaqulusi Local Municipality.
Unused Grid Access Costs
Thaba Chweu Local Municipality introduced a fixed monthly network availability fee of R582.64 for grid connections that remain accessible but are not actively used. The charge amounts to R6,991.68 over 12 months for each qualifying connection.
Eskom, meanwhile, recorded more than 500 consecutive days without implementing load shedding nationally. The Thaba Chweu fee applies to available grid access even when no electricity is being drawn through the connection.
