The same R500 buys anything from 121 to 187 units of prepaid electricity, depending on where you live and which tariff you are on. That is a gap of 66 units, or about 55% more electricity for the same money.
We worked it out from the 2026/27 tariff schedules for all eight metros and for Eskom’s direct customers. Every rate below includes VAT, and every one links back to the document it came from.
Not all of those documents are equally clear. Where we had to work out the VAT ourselves, or rely on a report instead of an official schedule, we say so in how sure we are of each figure.
What R500 buys, ranked
These figures assume R500 reaches your meter, it is your first purchase of the month, and no fixed charges or arrears are deducted. One unit is one kilowatt-hour (kWh).
| Supplier and tariff | Rate per unit | Units for R500 |
|---|---|---|
| eThekwini, prepaid Scale 12 | R2.67 | 187.2 |
| Eskom direct, Homelight 20A | R2.70 | 185.0 |
| Johannesburg, Prepaid Low (indigent) | R3.13 | 159.6 |
| Johannesburg, Prepaid High | R3.34 | 149.7 |
| Eskom direct, Homelight 60A | R3.44 | 145.5 |
| Mangaung, domestic prepaid (summer rate) | R3.50 | 142.8 |
| Ekurhuleni, A.2 residential low income | R3.52 | 141.9 |
| Cape Town, Home User | R3.56 | 140.5 |
| Nelson Mandela Bay, domestic prepaid (as reported) | R3.86 | 129.4 |
| Tshwane, residential | R3.73, then R4.36 | 129.2 |
| Buffalo City, Scale 1B domestic prepaid | R3.87 | 129.1 |
| Ekurhuleni, B residential | R3.88 | 129.0 |
| eThekwini, prepaid Scales 8, 9 and 13 | R4.11 | 121.6 |
| Cape Town, Domestic prepaid | R4.14 | 120.8 |
Municipal rates apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Eskom’s apply from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. In Tshwane the first 100 units of the month cost R3.73 each and the next 300 cost R4.36, so a R500 purchase crosses into the second block.
What stands out
- Your tariff matters as much as your city. Two households in eThekwini can get 187 units or 122 units for the same R500, depending on the scale their account is on.
- The cheapest rates are the restricted ones. eThekwini Scale 12, Eskom Homelight 20A, Johannesburg Prepaid Low and Ekurhuleni A.2 are aimed at low-usage or low-income households. You cannot simply choose them.
- Four standard tariffs are almost identical. Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, Buffalo City and Ekurhuleni B all give about 129 units, with eThekwini and Cape Town a little lower at about 121.
- Johannesburg looks cheap until the fixed charge. Its Prepaid High rate is among the lowest, but it carries R241.50 a month in service and capacity charges.
- Mangaung changes with the season. The same R500 buys 142.8 units at the summer rate and 115.7 at the winter rate.
Fixed charges change the picture
A lower rate per unit often comes with a monthly fixed charge. The ranked table leaves these out, because how they are collected differs and not every schedule explains it.
| Tariff | Fixed charge a month (incl. VAT) | What we know about collection |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo City, Scale 1B | R530.15 | Listed in the tariff book as a basic monthly service charge. |
| Cape Town, Home User | R424.30 | Billed on your municipal account. |
| Johannesburg, Prepaid High | R241.50 (R80.50 service, R161.00 capacity) | Listed in the tariff schedule. Prepaid Low is exempt. |
| Ekurhuleni, B residential | R126.25 (single phase) | Listed in the tariff schedule. |
| Cape Town, Domestic prepaid | About R74.77 (R2.46 a day) | Taken from your purchase, for each day since you last bought. |
| Mangaung, domestic prepaid | R57.50 | New this year, for non-indigent customers. |
| Tshwane, residential | None in the city’s example | The city’s worked example charges for units only. |
| Nelson Mandela Bay, domestic prepaid | None | The regulator did not approve a proposed prepaid basic charge. |
| Eskom Homelight, eThekwini Scales 8, 9, 12 and 13 | None in the cited tables | Not applicable. |
Where a fixed charge is taken from your purchase, it comes off before any units are bought. Take Cape Town’s Domestic tariff: if you buy R500 once a month, about 30 days of the daily charge is deducted first. That is R73.80, leaving R426.20 for electricity, which buys 103.0 units, not 120.8.
The same arithmetic applied to Johannesburg’s Prepaid High charge would leave R258.50 of a R500 purchase for electricity, or about 77 units. We could not confirm from the schedule how City Power collects it, so check your own receipt.
Fixed charges are one of the main reasons people see fewer units than they expect. We explain the others in why you get fewer prepaid electricity units.
Buying more in a month can cost more per unit
Several metros charge a higher rate once your purchases for the calendar month pass a threshold. The count resets on the 1st.
| Tariff | Blocks and rates (incl. VAT) |
|---|---|
| Tshwane, residential | First 100 units R3.73, 101 to 400 R4.36, 401 to 650 R4.75, above 650 R5.12 |
| Johannesburg, Prepaid High | First 350 units R3.34, 350 to 500 R3.83, above 500 R4.37 plus a 6c network surcharge before VAT |
| Nelson Mandela Bay (as reported) | First 300 units R3.86, 301 to 500 R4.58, above 500 R5.07 |
| Mangaung (summer) | First 350 units R3.50, above 350 R4.03 |
| Cape Town, Domestic prepaid | First 600 units R4.14, above 600 R4.94 |
| Buffalo City, Scale 1B | First 2,000 units R3.87, above 2,000 R4.08 |
A purchase can straddle two blocks. On Cape Town’s Domestic tariff, a household that has already bought 550 units this month gets 50 units at the lower rate and the rest at the higher one, so R500 buys 109.35 units.
That is why the same amount can buy more on the 1st than on the 28th. It is the tariff, not the vendor shortchanging you.
Metro by metro
Johannesburg (City Power)
Prepaid High gives 149.7 units for R500 before fixed charges, with R241.50 a month in service and capacity charges on top. Prepaid Low, for registered indigent households, gives 159.6 units and has no fixed charges.
Tshwane
R500 buys 129.2 units as the first purchase of the month: 100 units in the first block and about 29 in the second. The city says prepaid and conventional meters pay the same rates, and recommends buying only what you need for one calendar month.
Cape Town
Most prepaid households are on the Domestic tariff: 120.8 units for R500 before the daily charge, or about 103 if you buy monthly. Home User gives 140.5 units but adds R424.30 a month on the municipal account, so it only pays off for higher-usage homes.
eThekwini (Durban)
The main prepaid scales, 8, 9 and 13, give 121.6 units for R500. Scale 12 gives 187.2 units, the most in this comparison, but only accounts assigned to it qualify.
Ekurhuleni
The standard B residential tariff gives 129.0 units for R500, with a monthly basic charge in the schedule. The A.2 low-income tariff gives 141.9 units and has eligibility rules.
Nelson Mandela Bay
The metro moved to a flat rate in July 2026, and a court then ordered it to restore block pricing from 1 July. The regulator approved the restored rates in September. On the reported figures, R500 buys 129.4 units with no basic charge. Households that paid the flat rate are due credits.
Mangaung (Centlec)
The domestic prepaid tariff has a summer and a winter rate. R500 buys 142.8 units in summer and 115.7 in winter, with a new R57.50 monthly basic charge for non-indigent customers. The approved schedule does not list which months count as winter.
Buffalo City
The non-indigent domestic prepaid tariff, Scale 1B, gives 129.1 units for R500. It also carries the largest fixed charge in this comparison, R530.15 a month. Pensioner and indigent tariffs have no basic charge.
Eskom direct
If Eskom supplies you directly, and not through a municipality, Homelight 20A gives 185.0 units for R500 and Homelight 60A gives 145.5. The 20A supply limits how much you can run at once, which is the trade-off for the lower rate.
How sure we are of each figure
We would rather show our confidence than hide it.
| Supplier | Where the rate comes from | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Town | City website | Published including VAT |
| eThekwini | City tariff tables | Published including VAT |
| Buffalo City | City tariff book | Published with and without VAT |
| Eskom | Eskom schedule of standard prices | Published including VAT |
| Ekurhuleni | Signed city schedule | Published excluding VAT. We added 15%. |
| Johannesburg | City tariff summary, matched to the council tariff item | The council item states the schedule excludes VAT. We added 15%. |
| Mangaung | Regulator-approved schedule on Centlec’s website | Centlec’s application states its prices exclude VAT. We added 15%. |
| Tshwane | City announcement of 2 July 2026 | Not stated in the announcement. The city has published the same table as excluding VAT in earlier years, so we added 15%. |
| Nelson Mandela Bay | News reports of the regulator’s September approval | Not stated. The figures match last year’s rates plus the approved increase only if they exclude VAT, so we added 15%. |
Treat the Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay figures as our best reading, not as confirmed. Nelson Mandela Bay had not published a 2026/27 tariff schedule on its website when we checked. If you work for either municipality and can point us to the current schedule, we will correct this page.
Work out your own number
Your result depends on your tariff, what you have already bought this month and what is deducted. Our electricity prices guide has a calculator for Cape Town, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni and Eskom that handles block crossing and deductions.
Three things to check on your last token receipt:
- The tariff name or scale, so you compare the right row.
- Any amount listed as a fixed charge, service charge or arrears.
- The number of units, divided into the amount that went to electricity. That is your real rate.
Once you know how many units you get, how many units appliances use shows how far they will go.
If you buy through SIMcloud
The table assumes the full R500 reaches your meter. When you buy prepaid electricity through SIMcloud, our service fee is about 2.9% of the purchase and never more than R10. On R500 the fee is R10, so R490 goes to your meter.
At the Cape Town Domestic rate that is 118.4 units before fixed charges. Any vendor’s fee works the same way: it reduces the amount that reaches the meter, not the municipal rate.
How we worked this out
- We used the energy rate for each tariff from the documents listed below.
- Where rates are published without VAT, we added 15%.
- Units for R500 is 500 divided by the VAT-inclusive rate, shown to one decimal place. For Tshwane we filled the first block before moving to the second.
- The ranked table excludes fixed charges, free basic electricity, arrears, Johannesburg’s network surcharge above 500 units and vendor fees. Each can change what an individual household receives.
- Sources were checked on 11 November 2026, except the eThekwini, Ekurhuleni and Eskom schedules, which were checked on 1 November 2026.
Sources: City of Cape Town residential electricity rates, eThekwini tariff tables 2026/27, Ekurhuleni electricity tariff schedule 2026/27, Eskom schedule of standard prices from 1 April 2026, City of Johannesburg electricity tariffs 2026/27, City of Tshwane tariff announcement, Centlec tariff documents, Buffalo City tariff book 2026/27 and Algoa FM’s report on the Nelson Mandela Bay approval.
Using these figures
Journalists, researchers and community groups are welcome to quote this comparison. Please credit SIMcloud and link to this page so readers can check the sources and the method.
If you need the figures for a different amount, a different tariff or as a spreadsheet, WhatsApp us on 074 707 7000 and we will send them.
Quick answers
How many units do you get for R500 of electricity?
Between about 121 and 187 units on the tariffs we compared, before fixed charges. It depends on your supplier and tariff.
Which is the cheapest in this comparison?
eThekwini’s prepaid Scale 12 at R2.67 a unit, followed by Eskom Homelight 20A at R2.70. Both are restricted tariffs. Among standard metro tariffs, Johannesburg’s Prepaid High has the lowest unit rate but a R241.50 monthly fixed charge.
Why did I get fewer units than the table shows?
Usually a fixed charge, arrears or a vendor fee was deducted first, or part of your purchase fell into a higher-priced block.
Is electricity cheaper on the first of the month?
On a block tariff, yes. The lower-priced block resets on the 1st, so an early purchase is charged at the lower rate.
Does electricity cost more in winter?
In Mangaung the domestic prepaid rate is higher in winter. The other tariffs in this comparison use the same rate all year.