The proposed 36% electricity tariff increase by Eskom will plunge South Africans further into poverty.
This is according to the DA which on Thursday staged a protest outside the offices of national energy regulator Nersa, demanding that it rejects Eskom’s application for a hike in electricity prices.
The party said more than 200,000 people had signed its petition calling for Nersa to turn down the power utility’s request.
DA MP and spokesperson on energy and electricity Kevin Mileham argued that South Africans were already under severe financial pressure and a price hike would deepen their difficulties.
“This increase will devastate households and businesses already burdened by high costs of living,” said Mileham. “It will destroy small businesses, force layoffs and push even more families into poverty. This is not just unfair; it is an outrage.”
He said South Africans were already paying for Eskom’s inefficiencies through taxes and billions in government bailouts.
“So far, it’s R500bn in bailouts and now they want a third payment in the form of a 36.15% tariff increase. And for what? For us to keep paying for their luxury spending, for a company that buys a roll of toilet paper for R26, the same roll that you and I would pay R8 for,” said Mileham.
“Imagine how little respect Eskom has for you, the people who struggle every day to make ends meet if this is how they manage the money we entrust to them.”
“This electricity price hike is nothing less than Eskom’s attempt to shove the cost its incompetence and corruption onto ordinary citizens — more than 36%.”