25 March 2015
The
Cape Chamber of Commerce said Eskom’s plans to increase electricity tariff will
not resolve the power utilities problems.
Cape
Chamber President Janine Myburgh said over a period of six years primary energy
costs increased from R19 billion to R70 billion.
That
was an annual increase of 24.3 percent which is roughly four times the rate of
inflation.
Myburgh
said a quarter of Eskom’s generating capacity is off-line undergoing
maintenance or being repaired after breakdowns yet the costs continue to rise.
Myburgh
said over a period of six years primary energy costs increased from R19bn to
R70bn. That was an annual increase of 24.3% which is roughly four times the
rate of inflation.
“We
need to ask some serious questions about these costs because there are
allegations that Eskom is paying something like four times the going rate for
coal from some BEE companies” Myburgh added.
Meanwhile the Congress of
South African Trade Unions has vowed to action should Eskom raise the tariffs
in April.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick
Craven said it is clear that the extra costs have nothing to do with
unavoidable factors.
Last week, the power utility
announced a 25 percent tariff hike to help cover the cost of diesel used to
operate gas turbines, which helped prevent load shedding over the past year.
Craven said that if its
submission to energy regulator Nersa to reject Eskom's application for a
further tariff increase fails, the trade union federation would consider
rolling mass action.
Craven said it should cut fat,
drastically improve its revenue collection capacity and manage contracts
effectively to address its financial problems.
Craven said Government as the
shareholder must also intervene in a big way to help Eskom out of its financial
problems.
“It is unfair for
municipalities to put a huge mark-up on top of the Eskom electricity tariff,
making electricity unaffordable for many poor households, and then fail to pay
Eskom” Craven added.
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