Catholic bishops want Nersa to reject Eskom’s tariff bid

South Africa’s Catholic bishops on Wednesday said “it is unfair to pass on the burden of Eskom failures to customers‚ especially the poor”.

For this reason‚ the church’s Commission for Justice and Peace has called on the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to reject Eskom’s electricity tariff request 25.3% for the 2015/2016 financial year.

 “Eskom’s crisis is a result of poor management and cumulative lack of political will to tackle the energy crisis in a comprehensive and sustainable manner‚” said commissioner chairperson Bishop Gabuza.

 “The increase in electricity tariffs will influence price hikes in food and other essential products that are used by the poor as the firms pass on their electricity price increases to consumers.

 “The poor in our country are already struggling to make ends meet. We should not add further burden.” 

In its submission against Eskom’s urgent application to Nersa‚ the Catholic commission also raised concern about postential “job losses and contraction of the job market in the energy-intensive industries – agriculture‚ mining and manufacturing — that would add more misery in the lives of the rural poor”.

Gabuza said Nersa should use the opportunity of the current Eskom application to get government and Eskom “to address the systemic issues behind the crisis”.

 “Among other things‚ the government should be encouraged to set up a national electricity crisis council made up of a broad spectrum of stakeholders that includes civil society and trade unions‚ that should be empowered to develop a pro-poor turnaround plan for Eskom and oversee its implementation‚” said Gabuza.