Local economist says approved electricity tariffs will affect all
Some political and Polokwane residents are calling for the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to relook its grant for the increase tariffs to Eskom.
POLOKWANE – The above-inflation electricity tariff increases granted to Eskom has been received by stakeholders with great discontentment.
The shared worry lies in the hike worsening South Africa’s dwindling economy, which according to them would eventually become impossible for the working class to afford electricity.
To prove their level of affliction, some political and Polokwane residents are calling for the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to relook its grant for the increase tariffs to Eskom.
The power utility applied for a 32% increase in electricity tariffs for the 2023/24 financial year.
On January 12, Nersa approved an 18.65% increase in electricity tariffs, effective from April 1, with the consideration of the “extremely difficult decision” sought to balance between the needs of Eskom and that of consumers.
Some Polokwane residents said that it seems both government and Eskom are uniformed with the lived realities of South African citizens and the functionality of both private and public institutions, especially during active load-shedding.
“Companies are not functioning properly, they are retrenching, so where do we expect these people to get the money for the increase in tariffs?,” one resident, who opted to stay anonymous, asked.
“Eskom has just tried to shield itself from the consequences of years’ worth of mismanagement by making struggling South Africans and their families their financial scapegoats.”
He said there were many ways in which Eskom could raise funds.
“By reducing their bloated payroll, by cutting suppliers who are overcharging just to make cadres rich and by ending corruption and recovering the state capture loot.”
Meanwhile, the Azanian People’s Organisation and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania in Limpopo among other political organisations have vowed to follow suit of the national protest against the increased rates, which took place on Monday (January 16) to the Nersa offices in Pretoria.
Local economist, Baneng Nape has in the meantime predicted that the standard of living in households and of production processes for companies would face a significant decline.
“On estimate, 95% of production processes require electricity in South Africa. Even in households, almost 100% of our convenient livelihood depends on electricity. This will lead to financial pain when goods need to be bought because all things that require electricity to be produced will increase its price for manufacturers to augment the power hike,” Nape added.
