Eskom must consider other models of funding besides increasing tariffs, trade union Solidarity said in Rustenburg on Friday.
“If you run a chocolate business you can’t increase the price of chocolate for funding your extensions, you will lose business,” said deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann.
He said South African consumers cannot afford a hike of 35% each year for three years.
“This increase will lead into a rush in unemployment,” he said at a National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) public hearing into Eskom’s proposed tariff hike.
Nersa should not approve the 35% tariff increase as Eskom could afford a tariff increase of 20% or less provided it controlled the rising coal price, Hermann said.
Eskom has asked for a 35% increase every year for three years to fund its R385-billion expansion plan. — Sapa