Page 6 - AfrElec Week 06 2023

AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

Electricity tariff increases

for South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA A board member at South Africa’s power util- cables and other distribution infrastructure,
ity Eskom has said an uncompetitive tariff, high which worsens the electricity shortage.
debt and poor management are hampering its The current tariffs range from ZAR8.61
ability to supply enough electricity. ($0.50) per kilowatt hour to ZAR14.26
Eskom’s Mteto Nyathi said this at a briefing ($0.84)/kWh. South African Reserve Bank
on the energy crisis facing the continent’s most (SARB) recently forecast that the crisis could
industrialised nation on Wednesday (February cause a 2% decline in industrial output growth
1), national broadcaster SABC reports. in 2023.
He warned consumers of more electricity To address the energy scarcity, President
tariff increases as Eskom is not making enough Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress Eskom has
money from the current rates. The utility’s $23bn (ANC) party on Tuesday (January 31) proposed
debt, Nyathi added, is preventing it from raising a declaration of a state of disaster at Eskom. been rationing
capital to fund its operations. “We’ve got liquidity However, the proposal, according to News24, a
issues linked to debt, so the debt has to be sorted local paper, has split opinion. electricity since
out,” he said. “Existing legislation and institutions, if used
“The second one, we call it a cost-reflective in good faith, provide all that is necessary to get 2008 through
tariff if we continue to sell at the price below over load shedding as fast as reasonably possi- load shedding,
which we produce things that business has no ble,” Hilton Trollip, an energy research consult-
future. The third systematic issue is what we call ant and fellow at the University of Cape Town, is but the crisis is
dysfunctional culture – many in management quoted as saying.
positions not managing. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, worsening.
“You see itself playing itself out as lack of the country’s biggest labour group and a mem-
accountability, people not taking ownership of ber of the nation’s ruling alliance, supports the
the problem…no tough conversations with peo- suggestion.
ple that are not performing.” “A state of disaster will send the message to
Eskom has been rationing electricity since society that government is treating this crisis
2008 through load shedding, but the crisis is with the urgency it requires,” it said in a state-
worsening as planned rolling outages can now ment cited by News24. “It will concentrate all of
be as long as 10 hours daily. government’s attention and resources to stabilis-
The utility’s fleet is dominated by old, coal- ing and rebuilding the grid and providing gov-
based facilities that often break down. Further- ernment and Eskom with the necessary powers
more, organised gangs regularly steal power and tools to end load shedding.”™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 08•February•2023