DA leader John Steenhuisen believes a State of Disaster around Eskom and the country’s electricity supply should be declared immediately. Photo: @jsteenhuisen and @Eskom_SA / Twitter
‘Daylight robbery’: DA on NERSA approving 18.65% tariff hike
The DA says the 18.65% tariff hike approved by NERSA is daylight robbery against consumers who have to pay for non-existent electricity.
DA leader John Steenhuisen believes a State of Disaster around Eskom and the country’s electricity supply should be declared immediately. Photo: @jsteenhuisen and @Eskom_SA / Twitter
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to increase electricity tariffs by 18.65% is daylight robbery against consumers.
On Thursday, 12 January, NERSA approved Eskom’s fifth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD5) revenue application even though it granted 18.65% instead of the 32% the power utility had asked.
DA WEIGHS IN ON NERSA’S DECISION
Eskom was granted an 18.65% hike which will be effective from 1 April 2023 and 12.74% for the 2024/25 financial year despite South Africans being subjected to rolling blackouts for over 120 days, and Eskom currently implementing Stage 6 load shedding indefinitely.
The DA said instead of acknowledging that overburdened consumers are currently carrying the dead weight of a collapsing Eskom monopoly, NERSA instead chose to protect itself from further litigation by Eskom and agreed to grant this exorbitant electricity price increase.
ALSO READ: BREAKING: NERSA grants Eskom 18.65% tariff hike
The party’s Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia said the Energy Regulator essentially shifted on its statutory obligation to protect consumers from unfair energy pricing and, instead, pandered to the corporate interests of an entity that has completely failed to generate enough electricity to meet demand.
“South Africans are already stretched to breaking point due to a high cost of living, and this move by NERSA will force many to make the difficult choice of either putting food on the table or to pay for a non-existent power supply from Eskom. This NERSA/Eskom raid on consumers’ empty pockets is unfair, unjust, and cruel because it asks consumers to pay more for the electricity they don’t have,” Cachalia said.
Speaking to the SABC, energy analyst, Tshepo Kgadima, said electricity tariffs have increased by a whopping 753% over the last ten years.
