Organisation undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is extremely disappointed about the North Gauteng High Court Ruling in Pretoria.
Outa sought an urgent interdict on 31 March in an attempt to prohibit Eskom and National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) from implementing an electricity hike of 9.4 per cent on 1 April.
According to a statement by Outa, the lobby group indicated that it would remain committed to ensuring improved transparency and meaningful engagement with the public on matters of importance.
“While urgent applications are inherently risky, that doesn’t mean that we should not seek to bring these to the courts when we believe it is necessary to do so. Our alternative was to do nothing and when weighing up the rule of law on this matter, we had to act,” said Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage.
The application was brought purely on the grounds that Nersa did not provide any reasons for its decision. Outa argued that insufficient time had been made available for the organisation to meaningfully consider the reasons and facts provided by Nersa before the tariffs come into effect.
Duvenage further explained that setting aside the urgency of the application does not in any way deter them from proceeding with a review of the reasons and to seek the necessary information for granting the tariff hike.
“The non-stop electricity tariff hikes over the past few years have become outrageously unbearable and the public has a right to scrutinise and demand greater efficiency and prudent management from this inefficient state-owned entity,” he concluded.
Randburg Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Linda Blackbeard, explained that electricity hikes, together with fuel increases and drought have a major impact on businesses.
“Businesses are already trying very hard to stay on their feet. They are already on a tight budget and this just adds to this impact,” she explained.
She further explained that profit margins were decreasing. “Profit is just getting smaller and smaller while unions are also demanding a payment increment with small productivity,” she explained.
She concluded that paying more for electricity and the increasing petrol was putting extreme pressure on businesses. “Imagine [the impact on] someone who owns a fleet of business vehicles,” she said.
Details: Outa, 087 170 0639.
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