How Many Units Does R100 Electricity Buy in South Africa? (And Why It Varies in 2026)

Last updated April 2026. Based on NERSA-approved tariffs, official municipal schedules, and documented vendor pricing.

The short answer

R100 typically buys 25.6 - 40.2 kWh of prepaid electricity in South Africa.

Best: Eskom Homelight 20A direct supply, flat R2.49/kWh, gives 40.2 kWh.
Most expensive first-block muni: City of Cape Town at 25.6 kWh.

But it can drop as low as 8.3 kWh in the worst case - someone in Ekurhuleni who has already bought 700+ kWh that month and lands in the punitive top block (R11.99/kWh), or whose municipal account is in arrears (50 - 90% of every token deducted toward debt).

The 5x gap between best and worst case is real and depends on which municipality you live in, your tariff code, where you are in the billing month, and how you buy.

Ranked by impact: the 7 reasons your units vary

From the biggest variance driver to the smallest. Most households are affected by 2 - 3 of these at the same time.

#1Inclining block tariffs (IBT)

Up to -75%

Your first purchase of the month is the cheapest; every subsequent purchase climbs as you fill blocks.

Ekurhuleni Tariff A2: R2.97/kWh on the first 600 kWh, R4.64/kWh from 601-700 kWh, R11.99/kWh above 700 kWh.
Same R100 buys 33.7 kWh in block 1 vs only 8.3 kWh in block 3 - a 75% drop.
Tshwane and City Power IBTs are gentler (typically 30-40% gap top to bottom) but still material.
Eskom Homelight (since April 2025) and eThekwini Durban use a single flat rate - no block stacking.

What to do: Time your largest top-up for early in the billing month so you stay in block 1 for as long as possible. The block resets on the 1st.

#2Account in arrears (debt deduction)

Up to -90%

If your municipal account is in arrears, several munis automatically deduct part of every prepaid token toward your debt.

George documented at around 50%; Langeberg has been documented up to 90%.
Buy R100 of electricity, only R10 - R50 of kWh lands in your meter. The rest is pulled toward arrears.
Most painful and least visible cause of "my R100 buys nothing" - and it compounds with whichever tariff you are on.

What to do: Call your muni's Revenue Department to confirm whether your account is on a debt-recovery deduction. Negotiate a payment plan and you reclaim the full token.

#3Wrong tariff code (Domestic vs Lifeline vs Home User)

Up to -33%

Most municipalities offer cheaper tariffs for indigent or low-use households. The default for new connections is usually the most expensive option.

Cape Town Lifeline: R2.61/kWh flat + 25-60 kWh free monthly, no service & wires charge. Vs Cape Town Domestic R3.91/kWh first block + R69/month.
City Power LOW (Indigent): cheaper block 1 rate AND exempt from the R200/month service & network charges.
eThekwini Scale 12 (FBE): R2.45/kWh flat + 65 kWh free, available to households averaging under 150 kWh/month.
Cape Town Home User: cheaper per-kWh than Domestic but adds a R390.87/month service charge - only worth it for high-use homes.

What to do: Look at a purchase receipt to see your current tariff code, then call your muni's Customer Care to ask whether you qualify for a cheaper one. Lifeline is property-value and income tested.

#4Which utility supplies your house

Up to -50%

Eskom direct supply is the cheapest residential prepaid tariff in South Africa. Municipal customers pay 25 - 60% more on the same purchase.

Eskom Homelight 20A: R2.49/kWh flat, no service charge. Mostly rural areas, small towns, and pockets of urban suburbs.
Cape Town Domestic: R3.91/kWh first 600 kWh - 57% more expensive on a R100 first-of-month buy.
Tshwane: R3.42/kWh on first 100, climbing to R4.70/kWh above 650.
Ekurhuleni Tariff A2: R2.97/kWh first 600 kWh - close to Eskom on block 1, brutal above 700.

What to do: You usually cannot choose - your supplier is determined by where your meter is. But knowing which one you are on tells you which other variance drivers apply (e.g. block stacking only matters if you are on a muni IBT).

#5Sub-meter resellers in complexes and estates

-7.5% to -15%

If your meter is operated by a body corporate, HOA, landlord or private billing company, they can charge above the council rate.

NERSA does not regulate sub-metered customers. Resellers (Enbaya, Impact Meters, body-corp operators) typically mark up 7.5% to 15%.
Markup is usually justified as "metering and billing infrastructure" but is not capped or publicly disclosed.
Compare your effective cost-per-kWh against the published council rate to spot the gap.

What to do: If your effective rate is more than 5% over the council rate, raise it with your body corporate or landlord and ask for the cost breakdown. Escalate to your municipal Customer Care if the markup looks excessive. Switching to direct council billing is sometimes possible.

#6Fixed monthly service / network charges

Hidden cost

Several munis hide significant cost in fixed monthly charges that do not appear on the per-kWh tariff.

City Power Joburg: R70/month service + R130/month network capacity = R200/month, even on prepaid (since 1 July 2024). Indigent customers exempt.
Cape Town Domestic: R68.89/month service & wires (new in 2025/26).
Cape Town Home User: R390.87/month - the largest fixed charge on any residential tariff.
Tshwane: R200/month basic charge, both prepaid and postpaid.
Eskom Homelight: R0/month service charge - the only unbundled-free residential tariff in the country, by NERSA design.

What to do: If you are on City Power and a low-use household (under 200 kWh/month), the R200/month fixed effectively adds R1.00/kWh. Look at your effective rate including the fixed charge before deciding whether municipal supply is worth it.

#7The channel you buy through

-0.5% to -3.3%

Where you buy makes a small but real difference. Banking apps are usually the cheapest, retailers are usually slightly more expensive, sub-meter portals usually the worst.

Free or near-free: TymeBank R0, African Bank R0, FNB app under R75 = R0.60.
Cheap: Capitec R1, Nedbank R1, Standard Bank R1.20-R1.80, Absa R1.50.
Shoprite added a 1.30% convenience fee in November 2025 (R1.30 per R100).
Discovery Bank: 1% capped at R15 after a free quota.
Sub-meter portals operated by resellers can be the most expensive of all (covered above).

What to do: Use a banking app (TymeBank, Capitec, FNB) instead of a retailer. Saving 1.3% on R500/month of electricity = R78/year you can keep. The Standard Bank Eskom Token Pin Service in-app is also direct.

Block stacking, visualised

Reason #1 is the biggest single driver of variance and the hardest to feel intuitively. Below, the same R100 across the blocks of each IBT provider. Bar lengths are scaled so cross-provider comparisons read at a glance.

How to read this: Each bar shows how many kWh R100 buys in that block. As you spend more in a billing month, your purchases roll into the next block and you get fewer kWh per Rand. The drop on the right is from Block 1 to the top block.

City Power (Johannesburg)

R100 buys 24% fewer kWh in the top block

First 350 kWh32.7 kWhR3.06/kWh
351 - 500 kWh28.5 kWhR3.51/kWh
Above 500 kWh25 kWhR4.00/kWh

City of Cape Town

R100 buys 16% fewer kWh in the top block

First 600 kWh25.6 kWhR3.91/kWh
Above 600 kWh21.5 kWhR4.65/kWh

City of Tshwane (Pretoria)

R100 buys 27% fewer kWh in the top block

First 100 kWh29.2 kWhR3.42/kWh
101 - 400 kWh25 kWhR4.00/kWh
401 - 650 kWh22.9 kWhR4.36/kWh
Above 650 kWh21.3 kWhR4.70/kWh

Ekurhuleni

R100 buys 75% fewer kWh in the top block

First 600 kWh33.7 kWhR2.97/kWh
601 - 700 kWh21.6 kWhR4.64/kWh
Above 700 kWh8.3 kWhR11.99/kWh

No block stacking on these providers: Eskom Homelight 20A stays at R2.49/kWh (40.2 kWh per R100); Eskom Homelight 60A stays at R3.16/kWh (31.6 kWh per R100); eThekwini (Durban) stays at R3.77/kWh (26.5 kWh per R100). Your purchase position in the month does not change the rate.

Calculate your exact scenario

Pick your provider and how much you have already bought this month. We tell you exactly what your next R100 buys, and how much it has slipped versus a first-of-month purchase.

Your exact scenario

Pick your provider and how much you have already bought this month

ProviderAlready bought this month

On Eskom Homelight 20A, first purchase this month (block 1), R100 buys

40.2 kWh

at R2.49/kWh, lasts ~4 days at typical 10 kWh/day household use

Block boundaries shown are kWh thresholds for the current calendar month - they reset on the 1st. Eskom Homelight and eThekwini Durban use a single flat rate, so the block selector is disabled for those.

R100 across major providers (first purchase of the month)

Sorted by best value. Block tariffs are first-of-month estimates; the worst case for IBT providers is much lower (see the visual above).

Provider	R100 buys	Effective R/kWh
Eskom Homelight 20A	40.2 kWh	R2.49/kWh
Ekurhuleni	33.7 kWh	R2.97/kWh
City Power (Johannesburg)	32.7 kWh	R3.06/kWh
Eskom Homelight 60A	31.7 kWh	R3.15/kWh
City of Tshwane (Pretoria)	29.2 kWh	R3.42/kWh
eThekwini (Durban)	26.5 kWh	R3.77/kWh
City of Cape Town	25.6 kWh	R3.91/kWh

First-of-month estimates. VAT-inclusive energy charges only. Fixed monthly service charges (City Power R200, Cape Town R69, Tshwane R200) not included.

Action checklist: how to get more kWh per Rand

Time large purchases for early in the month if you are on Cape Town, City Power, Tshwane or Ekurhuleni IBT. Block 1 is the cheapest rate.
Buy through a banking app rather than a retailer. TymeBank, African Bank, Capitec, FNB (under R75) are the cheapest channels.
Check whether you qualify for Lifeline / Indigent in your muni. Cape Town Lifeline saves 33% per kWh and gets free basic electricity. Property-value and income tested.
If you live in a complex with sub-metering, compare your effective rate to the published council rate. Over 5% gap = raise with body corporate, escalate to muni.
Pay down arrears if your tokens are surprisingly small. Your muni may be deducting 50 - 90% of every purchase toward debt.
Avoid the Ekurhuleni A2 punitive top block. Households consuming over 700 kWh/month should ask Ekurhuleni about Tariff B (flat R3.88/kWh + R109.78 basic charge).

Want the exact units for your provider, area, and Rand amount?

Open the prepaid electricity calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my neighbour get more units for the same R100?

Most likely they are on Eskom direct supply (R2.49/kWh flat) while you are on a municipal tariff that runs 25 - 60% more expensive. Other possibilities: they are on the Lifeline / indigent tariff code while you are on Domestic, they timed their last purchase early in the month before the inclining block stepped up, or you are paying a sub-meter reseller markup of 7.5 - 15% in your complex. Compare your effective R/kWh against the published muni rate to triangulate which.

What is the absolute worst case for R100?

In Ekurhuleni Tariff A2, once you cross 700 kWh of consumption in a billing month, the per-kWh rate jumps to R11.99/kWh incl-VAT. R100 in that block buys only 8.3 kWh - 75% less than block 1's 33.7 kWh. This is by design - council policy is to push high-use households onto Tariff B. Outside Ekurhuleni's punitive top block, the worst case is roughly Cape Town Domestic at R3.91/kWh on the first 600 kWh = 25.6 kWh per R100.

How do I check what tariff code I am on?

Look at a recent purchase receipt or token slip - the tariff code (Domestic, Home User, Lifeline, A1, A2 etc.) is printed on it. If you cannot find it, your bank app's electricity history sometimes shows it. Otherwise call your municipality's Customer Care - they can tell you what tariff code your meter is registered under and whether you qualify for a cheaper alternative like Lifeline.

Should I buy electricity early or late in the month?

Buy your largest top-up on or shortly after the 1st of the month if you are on an inclining block tariff (Cape Town Domestic, City Power, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni). Block 1 is the cheapest rate; once you fill it, every subsequent purchase costs more per kWh. For Eskom Homelight (since April 2025) and eThekwini Durban, the rate is flat - timing does not change the kWh per Rand.

Is buying prepaid electricity cheaper or more expensive than postpaid?

It depends on your distributor. Eskom direct prepaid Homelight uses the same blocks as Eskom postpaid and has no service charge - effectively the same price. City Power Joburg postpaid customers pay the same R200/month service charge and the same per-kWh blocks - prepaid is on identical pricing. The premium people experience is usually because prepaid customers are more likely to be in higher-cost municipal areas or on HIGH tariff codes (rather than Lifeline), or paying through retailers that add a fee.

Why does my account show fewer units when I buy?

If your municipal account is in arrears, several munis automatically deduct a percentage of every prepaid token toward the debt. George has documented around 50%, Langeberg up to 90%. You buy R100, only R10 - R50 of kWh actually lands in your meter. Recoverable by paying down the arrears or negotiating a payment plan. Call your muni's Revenue Department to check whether your account is on a debt-recovery deduction.

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