Midvaal mayor says Eskom electricity hike will drive South Africans further into poverty

Midvaal local municipality mayor Peter Teixeira says the staggering 18.65% electricity hike granted to Eskom is simply not affordable.

Teixeira's sentiments were shared by Cosatu, who labelled the increase as “insensitive and careless”.

Teixeira was reacting to the hike granted by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) on Thursday, which was met by uproar as South Africans currently face Stage 6 load-shedding.

The mayor of the DA-run municipality said the new increase which would be effective from April 1 would drive South Africans further into poverty.

“The price of electricity has risen by more than 500% in the past 16 years, while Eskom has received billions of rand in bailouts and yet, to date, still fails to keep the lights on. South Africans will be forced to pay an exorbitant amount for electricity they do not get.

“The increased load-shedding stages have an adverse effect on Midvaal local municipality’s electricity infrastructure and network. It also hinders our ability to attend to power outages which have become a norm due to the surge in energy from the constant load-shedding. The prolonged rolling blackouts implemented by Eskom also give an opportunity for cable theft and vandalism,” Teixeira said.

Ordinary South Africans cannot be expected to carry the cost of Eskom’s failure and incompetence. He added the municipality was working on becoming less reliant on the power utility.

“We have instructed that a feasibility study into renewable energy project is accelerated, and an item be presented to council for decision-making. The municipal manager has been instructed to establish a task team to expedite all processes regarding establishing a feasible and viable Renewable Energy project,” he said.

Nersa announced it had reached a decision to grant Eskom an 18.65% increase for its 2023/2024 financial year. Eskom was also granted a 12.74% increase for the 2024/2025 financial year.

This year’s increase, according to energy expert Ted Blom, will cost an additional R200 to R400 a month on electricity bills depending on where you live.

Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said this would be a devastating blow to workers and businesses struggling to survive in an economy that is still reeling from Covid-19 lockdown and rampant inflation.

“Whilst this increase is less than the 32% hike Eskom requested, it will still be devastating for the unemployed and those who are dealing with wage stagnation. It will be a further burden to companies struggling to keep afloat because of a stagnant economy.

“The continuous above-inflation increases that Eskom has received since 2006 are nothing more than legalised robbery of consumers. These increases only serve to pickpocket workers of their meagre wages, suffocate businesses and deny the economy the chance to reduce unemployment. It is obvious that they are not a solution to Eskom. The power utility has become addicted to them and it has so far failed to come out with any tangible funding model for itself,” Pamla said.

nkosin@sowetan.co.za