Eskom accused of trying to ‘milk mosquito dry’

THE proposed increase request by Eskom is worse than “attempting to milk a mosquito dry”‚ because it disregards the fact that more than 30.4 million South Africans are living in poverty.

The ANC Youth League said this as it called on the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to reject Eskom’s request for a 19.9% increase in the tariff it charges for electricity.

The league said Eskom disregarded the reality that almost 32% of households’ disposable income went towards housing‚ water‚ electricity‚ gas and other fuels.

“This absurd proposal ignores the grim reality that almost 75% of South African households’ net income is used to service creditors and 60% of these South Africans‚ which will be the hardest hit by this tariff increase‚ struggle to service their debt consistently.”

Last month‚ Nersa approved the process and timelines for processing Eskom’s allowable revenue application for the 2018-19 financial year.

Eskom in August applied for a total allowable revenue of R219-billion. This translates to a 19.9% average hike in electricity tariffs.

“This ridiculous increase proposed by Eskom will result in those buying electricity from municipalities paying almost 28% more for electricity‚ after municipalities have included their mark-up‚” the league said.

Tomorrow is the closing date to submit written comments to Nersa.

Public hearings on Eskom’s application will be heard from October 30 and Nersa will make its decision on December 7.