Eskom tariffs set to increase
JOBURG – South Africans will have to start paying more for electricity and petrol.
South Africans will have to dig deeper into their pockets starting from April in order to get by.
On 20 March, the power utility confirmed in a statement that South Africans who get electricity directly from them will now cough up 12.69 per cent more from 1 April while municipalities’ tariffs will increase by 14.25 percent from 1 July as approved by National Energy Regulation of South Africa (Nersa).
Ward 117 Tim Truluck reckons this will hit the residents and businesses hard.
“Apart from it being way above the annual inflation rate, we are being charged for a service that is deteriorating every year,” he said.
He also added that increases will not go toward rectifying this, but instead will be used to prop up Eskom.
Ward 126 Mike Tonkin also said people will find it difficult to get by.
“It is not only electricity that is going up, everything is going up, and people will find it hard to meet their demands,” said Tonkin.
Eskom has experienced major supply problems since last year when a coal silo collapsed at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga.
The utility has also been battling with ageing infrastructure and limited generating capacity.
Petrol Price is also expected to increase by R2 by April
