Unemployed, economically deprived and hungry KwaZulu-Natal residents have slammed Eskom's proposed 36.1% tariff hike. (Dean Hutton/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Unemployed, economically deprived and hungry KwaZulu-Natal residents have slammed Eskom's proposed 36.1% tariff hike, citing rifts with wealthy government leaders and subsidies and subsidies. It highlighted the reality of millions of people living on pensions.
Ratepayers, including trade unions, residents, hostels, informal settlements and people living in middle-income suburbs, banded together at a South African National Energy Regulatory Authority (NERSA) public hearing on Friday to challenge Eskom. He expressed his anger and rejection of the application.
Utilities want to increase prices by R445 billion in 2025-26, R495 billion in 2026-27 and R537 billion in 2027-28, translating to 36.1% in 2025 and R537 billion in 2026. Electricity rates will increase by 11.8% in 2020 and 9.1% in 2027.
South Durban Community Alliance (SDCA) president Tristen Meek said Eskom was struggling to meet demand, leaving thousands of households without electricity.
“Communities have been told to pay around R15,000 in electricity bills, yet they still use less electricity than the elites living in the so-called better parts of the state.Despite the tariff increase , Eskom continues to fail to improve its operations, creating a financial burden on consumers,” Meek said.
“They need to completely move away from fossil fuels as an energy source. For those who don't understand, that means no gas, no green hydrogen, no coal, no oil, no clean coal. Regeneration. Invest in possible energy, invest in solar and wind power for people.”
SDCA president Bongani Mthembu said residents were fed up with Eskom's corruption, mismanagement and rising customs duties.
“Nersa, we are tired. We are tired of coming here to say the same thing, and every time Eskom finishes stealing all the money, they come and say, our poor people, We say poor black people have to cover it,” Mthembu said.
He said he believed President Nersa had already decided to approve the tariff increase and that the hearing appeared to be a check-box exercise.
Another SDCA representative, Mvuso Ntombela, also opined, “Many grandmothers will only find out about the significant price increase when they go to buy electricity.''
Jacobs Hostel representative Sthembiso Mugenge said Eskom and Nelsa were not aware of residents' “suffering”.
“We face many unemployed people who are struggling to find work, and an increase in electricity prices will further increase their economic hardship. This will lead to an increase in the cost of living for many people,” Mugenge said, calling on Eskom to focus on infrastructure development, reducing energy loss and theft, and promoting renewable energy.
“It's unfair to punish honest citizens with the highest penalties,” he said.
District 17 Commissioner Nilesh Maharaj called the proposed increases “incredible, ridiculous, hasty, arrogant and biased calculations.”
“There are unemployed people who haven't received a raise for years, and there are unemployed people who have been lucky enough to have received a 2-6% raise…Most people have to cut back on their food budget because of their electricity bill,” he said. said.
“Eskom is milking cows that are no longer capable of producing milk. The wells are dry and the common people want Eskom to stop being rewarded with mediocrity.”
Groundwork researcher David Hallows said people could not afford a price increase that would push the price of Isakwini from R4.18 to R4.80 per kilowatt hour.
“Eskom cannot produce electricity at a price that people can afford, so cost-reflective pricing is not realistic,” he said.
He said the proposed new pricing policy, centered on “cost of service”, was already calculated to favor large industrial users who pay less for electricity due to secret agreements with Eskom, and would therefore save energy. It said it was calculated to disadvantage those deploying renewable energy sources.
The fee will be used in part to subsidize large industrial users, pay for rising coal prices and subsidize municipal debt, Harrows added.
Ish Prahlad, president of the eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association, said soaring electricity prices were causing people to “hang themselves or jump into rivers”.
“We have been through a difficult period of flooding and looting…that increase will cause major problems, especially for low-income households,” he said.
Verulam resident Sakumuzi Ntombela has appealed to Nersa chairperson Nomfundo Maseti to stand up for the people.
“I ask you today… go and confront them.” [Eskom] And tell them that the community is slowly losing patience… everyone has a beast inside them and hunger makes them angry. ” he said.
“There is a family who lost a child due to loading and unloading. The child had asthma and could not use a nebulizer because there was no electricity. Now, who is responsible for the child's death?
“Can you go into people's houses and cook from empty pots? We don't have this money, so how do we allow Eskom to increase it?”
Maseti said the regulator will follow the correct legal process when deciding on tariff adjustments and called on the public to continue submitting comments.
“This message that you keep repeating is that we came here with a decision that we have already made, but I want to assure you that there is no decision. “We're going to do the work, but there is evidence that the decisions we ultimately make will not be easy,” she said.
