Eskom’s proposed 35% tariff hike will lead to more illegal connections because electricity users cannot afford the cost of power, the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Monday.
“This tariff hike will have far-reaching implications. One of them will be the escalation of energy theft,” the institute’s president, Du Toit Grobler, told hearings in Durban organised by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).
Eskom is seeking a 35% tariff hike each year for the next three years.
Cosatu secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Zet Luzipo, said the electricity hike would force some people to resort to illegal connections and the use of dangerous forms of energy.
Dangerous forms of power included indoor coal burning and paraffin stoves, he said.
Grobler proposed that Eskom should design a tariff hike for the next 10 years so that consumers would not be adversely affected.
He said the proposed tariff hike would also reduce economic growth, slow down the pace of recovery from the recession and lead to numerous job losses.
He raised concerns about people who did not pay for electricity, and criticised municipalities that wrote off debt for people who did not pay.
The hearing was also attended by various NGOs, political parties and trade unions.
About 50 people protested outside the Durban Exhibition Centre where the hearings were held. They were monitored by Durban metro police officers.
Eskom’s acting CEO, Mpho Makwana, said the tariff was intended to cover the cost of the current electricity supply, adding that the power utility experienced massive financial shortfalls.
“The tariff hike will allow us to have a good balance sheet and put us in a position to get good lending rates,” he said.
Makwana said another application might be necessary if Eskom’s funding and other assumptions did not materialise.
“If there is a crisis, we will go to our parent [Nersa] and reopen the application,” he said.
Luzipo told Nersa that the electricity price hikes would lead to massive job losses and would result in South Africa failing to create decent jobs. More than one million jobs had been lost in South Africa due to the economic meltdown in 2009, he said.
Cosatu and GroundWork, an environmental group, criticised Eskom for allowing big companies to pay less for electricity.
“Residential consumers pay more than what big companies pay,” said Luzipo.
There was a huge round of applause when Desmond D’sa of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance described Eskom bosses as crooks.
“May Eskom rot in hell. You are crooks. You kill us with your pollutions and you now want our people to have no electricity,” he said.
Many Eskom bosses were directors of companies that benefited in secret deals from Eskom, he said.
“You have secret companies. How much of the deals’ money goes to your pockets? Now you want to disconnect electricity for our poor people,” said D’sa.
More than 14 000 people had their electricity cut off in Durban every year, he added.
More organisations were expected to make their presentations on Monday. — Sapa