One of the key challenges raised by Magubane during the inquiry was the impact of illegal connections on electricity infrastructure.
She said while this was a major factor, even legal demand often outstripped capacity.
Trevor Ngwane, from the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, described load reduction as “energy racism”, arguing that it primarily affects townships and villages, amounting to “geographical profiling”.
Ngwane explained that black working-class communities bear the brunt of crises caused by inclement weather, poorly maintained infrastructure, mismanagement and corruption.
“There was a shift – managing the grid and shouldering the burden of the crisis was redirected to black working-class areas. In our research, we analysed the notice issued by Eskom about load reduction,” he said.
Divisional Commissioner for Visible Policing and Operations, Lt-General Maropeng Mamotheti said increased cost of police operations.
She said load reduction also increases the chances of criminal activity against communities.
“When load reduction happens, community members are left in the dark and vulnerable to criminals who make use of the opportunity to conduct criminal activities. We also get affected as the fuel that we would use to put in the vehicles we would have to redirect to the generators, this also affects us cost-wise,” said Mamotheti. She said the impact of load reduction was also felt by the four forensic labs across the country.
Professor Patrick Bond from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change said small groups of large corporations benefit from cheap electricity while ordinary people and small businesses struggle.
“Families that use 42% of the country's electricity from the Eskom grid face power shortages while big mining companies enjoy uninterrupted supply,” he said.
Bond said Eskom prioritises multinational corporations over citizens.
However, energy expert Chris Yelland, said load reduction is not violating rights but rather it is a problem of infrastructure.
“I would say maybe the practice of the way we invest in South Africa is an infringement of human rights. But the practice of load reduction, the way we practice it, is just a technical matter,” said Yelland.
SowetanLIVE
Load reduction violates human rights: Nersa
Outage tantamount to energy racism – crisis committee
Image: Thulani Mbele
The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) has conceded that load reduction violates the human rights of communities.
Nersa made its submissions at the South African Human Rights Commission inquiry in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
In response to questions about its role in protecting consumers, Vuyiswa Magubane from Nersa said the regulator’ has dual function: enforcing technical compliance from licensees while ensuring consumer protection.
The inquiry follows growing public complaints about load reduction, which is claimed to disproportionately affect poorer areas despite the suspension of load shedding.
Concerns have been raised about its impact on human rights, including the rights to life, equality, dignity, education and healthcare.
Evidence leaders argued there was no connection between nonpayment and grid overloading, to which Magubane agreed but clarified that overloading occurs when infrastructure is used beyond its design limits, typically due to illegal connections rather than nonpayment.
“So, in a scenario where we have two classes of non-payers, one can have a grid that is connected to the homes, you can have people who are not paying, but the grid is not overloaded,” said Magubane.
Magubane further explained that load reduction exists within a broader context of social and economic inequality.
“There is no single solution to this problem. Various organisations, including the government, play a crucial role in addressing wider socioeconomic factors such as unemployment, poverty and inequality – if we want to reverse some of the social ills we see in middle-income nations,” she said.
One of the key challenges raised by Magubane during the inquiry was the impact of illegal connections on electricity infrastructure.
She said while this was a major factor, even legal demand often outstripped capacity.
Trevor Ngwane, from the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, described load reduction as “energy racism”, arguing that it primarily affects townships and villages, amounting to “geographical profiling”.
Ngwane explained that black working-class communities bear the brunt of crises caused by inclement weather, poorly maintained infrastructure, mismanagement and corruption.
“There was a shift – managing the grid and shouldering the burden of the crisis was redirected to black working-class areas. In our research, we analysed the notice issued by Eskom about load reduction,” he said.
Divisional Commissioner for Visible Policing and Operations, Lt-General Maropeng Mamotheti said increased cost of police operations.
She said load reduction also increases the chances of criminal activity against communities.
“When load reduction happens, community members are left in the dark and vulnerable to criminals who make use of the opportunity to conduct criminal activities. We also get affected as the fuel that we would use to put in the vehicles we would have to redirect to the generators, this also affects us cost-wise,” said Mamotheti. She said the impact of load reduction was also felt by the four forensic labs across the country.
Professor Patrick Bond from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change said small groups of large corporations benefit from cheap electricity while ordinary people and small businesses struggle.
“Families that use 42% of the country's electricity from the Eskom grid face power shortages while big mining companies enjoy uninterrupted supply,” he said.
Bond said Eskom prioritises multinational corporations over citizens.
However, energy expert Chris Yelland, said load reduction is not violating rights but rather it is a problem of infrastructure.
“I would say maybe the practice of the way we invest in South Africa is an infringement of human rights. But the practice of load reduction, the way we practice it, is just a technical matter,” said Yelland.
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