Cape Town — Minister of Electricity, Kgotsientsho Ramokgopa, has assured resident’s that Eskom will not implement the 36% tariff increase.
Following the announcement by Ramokgopa that South Africa has now gone more than 270 days without loadshedding as Eskom’s unplanned maintenance has seen an increase in supply that has exceeded the demand.
According to Sunday World, Ramokgopa was confident that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) would not approve Eskom’s proposed 36% tariff increase.
He said this was motivated by the stories and presentations from the NERSA public hearings, where pensioners explained the difficulties they faced to put food on the table with their social grants, and how the increase would provide further challenges in their daily lives.
“I am confident that the NERSA will not come at 36%, I’m more than confident. I’ve said that to the country, putting my head on the block that it will not come to those levels. But we’ll allow NERSA to make that determination,” said Ramokgopa.
[WATCH] “You will not see a 36% tariff increase by Eskom… I am confident you won’t see that scale.” – Ramokgopa responds to the question on Eskom
‘s 36% electricity price increase request to Nersa.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/W2nPBbj1Qa— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) December 23, 2024
Charles Hlabela, NERSA spokesperson, said Eskom’s sixth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD6) Revenue Application was still underway. He explained that this was due to extended public hearings and more clarification being needed, among other things.
According to Ramokgopa, while some residents would be having a black Christmas, the department was working around the clock to ensure reisdents get free hours of electricity.
“People are going through an exceptionally difficult period. A lot of us on this podium are privileged, because from here we will be spending time with our families. When we get home, we open the fridge, there’s a choice of what to eat and what to drink. The majority of people watching us today don’t have that privilege,” he explained.
A pensioner earns roughly R2 000 per month, while the average cost of electricity is R1 200. He said pensioners pay their electricity diligently and an increase would wipe out more than half of their salaries.
Ramokgopa believes the recovery due to no loadshedding would be essential to the growth of South Africa’s economy and said that plans are in motion to get South Africa closer to an Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of more than 70%.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
