From Eskom to Town Hall: The Next Frontier in the Solar Paperwork War

South Africa’s rooftop solar revolution is hitting a frustrating roadblock: a patchwork of municipal regulations that, according to watchdog OUTA, are unlawfully stifling adoption with costly and unnecessary red tape. Having successfully pressured Eskom to scrap a contentious approval rule, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is now gearing up for a potential legal fight against city councils.

The core of the dispute is a single, expensive signature. While Eskom now only requires a standard Electrical Certificate of Compliance (CoC) from a registered electrician for its direct customers, many major municipalitiesincluding Johannesburg, Cape Town, Ethekwini, and Tshwanestill demand additional sign-off from a professional registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). This requirement, argues OUTA, makes the process prohibitively expensive and creates a bottleneck, as there simply aren’t enough ECSA professionals to handle the thousands of installations nationwide.

The Safety Debate: CoC vs. “Appropriate Documentation”

Municipalities, through the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU), defend the rule on safety grounds. They argue that a standard CoC is “not sufficient proof” for grid-tied solar systems and that AC/DC wiring and inverter commissioning need separate, specialist verification.

OUTA and its energy advisor, Chris Yelland, counter this fiercely. They maintain that a valid CoC is the definitive legal proof of safety compliance under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and that municipalities lack the authority to override it or demand extra certifications. “Municipalities aren’t enforcement authorities under the act,” OUTA states, framing the additional requirements as regulatory overreach.

A Confusing Patchwork and Concerns Over “Punitive” Lists

The situation is a mess of inconsistency. There’s no national standard, leaving homeowners to navigate a labyrinth of differing local bylaws, fees, and registration requirements. OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage notes it’s a “puzzle” to even determine which municipalities enforce the ECSA rule.

Furthermore, civil society groups like AfriForum have raised concerns that municipal registration lists for solar systems could be used in the future to impose punitive tariffs on those who generate their own power, adding a layer of suspicion to the paperwork push.

OUTA is now evaluating a targeted legal challenge against a municipality to set a precedent, hoping to force a nationwide alignment with Eskom’s simpler, electrician-led model. For South Africans trying to invest in energy independence, the outcome will determine whether going solar remains a complex bureaucratic battle or becomes the accessible solution the country desperately needs. The fight for a simpler signature is, in essence, a fight for a more resilient energy future.