KZN residents set to voice concerns over Eskom tariff hike
KZN residents will have a
chance to have their say on Eskom's request to hike electricity prices next
week.
The power producer is asking the energy regulator for a 36% increase next year.
It says the tariff increase will help it improve the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, while allowing the utility to be more financially sustainable.
National energy regulator NERSA is kicking off public hearings on the proposed hike in the Western Cape on Monday.
The KZN leg will be held in Durban on Thursday and Friday.
READ: Proposed Eskom tariff hike ‘will have dire impact on households, businesses’
Several civil society groups, organisations, and political parties have come out strongly against the proposed increase.
The DA's Kevin Mileham says they've already submitted to NERSA the first batch of over 200,000 signatures of South Africans from a petition calling for the application to be withdrawn.
"We see this as a powerful call from South Africans across the country for urgent action on the ongoing energy crisis. This petition signals frustration and fatigue of millions who are grappling daily with the economic and social impact of sky-high electricity prices, the cost-of-living crisis, a recent history of devastating load shedding and unreliable power supply in hundreds of municipalities."
Motsi Khokhoma from the Cry of the Xcluded organisation has urged South Africans to not let this opportunity to share their views go to waste.
"In other words, we are pushing the unemployed and the poor working-class people to a corner where when they resist it will be a time bomb which is ticking now. And then, now when you buy electricity of R10, really it less than four units and then when you increase that by 36 percent, R10 will not buy anything."
Find us on social media
Follow the ECR Newswatch WhatsApp channel here
