Ramaphosa urges Eskom to Hold Off Electricity Tariff Increase of 18.65%
President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged requested Eskom not to run with the Nersa-approved power tariff increase of 18.65% set to be implemented by April.
The president’s plea was heard during his closing address at the ANC’s Free State conference held in Mangaung earlier this month, stating that businesses and households were already struggling.
“I have personally said to Eskom: ‘Eskom, it will be an injury to our people if we implement this 18% now when we are going through loadshedding. Put it in suspense for a while’. And so, the Eskom board is going to discuss that,” he said.
The president was also wary of the collective frustration of people concerning the rolling blackouts, in addition to the struggles that South Africa is facing.
“Many people are reporting that their businesses are failing because of loadshedding,” he said.
Ramaphosa adds that the is busy at work devising solutions for the ongoing electricity crisis that plagues the country.
“As I’ve said in the address to the nation, we are short of some 6000 megawatts. We have been working very hard; we put in place an action plan, which I announced last year in July, and the process of adding more capacity with various measures, be it renewable energy or even emergency, has been underway.”
Before his address, the tariff increase announcement was met with great public outcry, with the opposition party Democratic Alliance opposing it.
“I have instructed our lawyers to apply to the High Court of South Africa for an interdict to stop the implementation of this tariff increase.”