Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reveals shocking 987% rise in South African electricity prices since 2007
Image: Facebook/Department of Electricity and Energy
Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has revealed that electricity prices in South Africa increased by a staggering 987% between 2007 and 2023.
This comes as South Africans continue to be crushed by rising electricity costs, which have far outpaced inflation and are placing a heavy strain on households and businesses across the country.
Speaking to the SABC after presenting his department’s budget vote on Tuesday, Ramokgopa said the government is finalising a new electricity pricing policy.
The policy is aimed at bringing more structure and predictability to electricity pricing, while trying to keep increases within manageable levels for consumers and the wider economy.
"We do appreciate the fact that there has been an exponential rise in the cost of electricity. Just a startling figure, between 2007 and 2023, electricity has gone up by 987%, and inflation has gone up in the same period by 150%," Ramokgopa said.
"That tells us that we are significantly below the disposable income of households. Household consumption constitutes over 60% of South Africa's GDP, so we are stunting growth in the country. But also undermines the ability of the industry to compete".
He added that the government’s focus is not only on making electricity more affordable but also on ensuring it remains accessible to all South Africans, particularly the poor, while supporting industry to compete and create jobs.
“We have finished the pricing policy, just going through the approval processes in the government, and we are taking it out to the public. But there's a special category of consumers that deserves particular attention, and really, that's the poor.
“Because, if you come to think of it, you give them on the one side old age pension grants, Sasa and the like, and then you are taking it on the other side. The net result really is that they remain very poor. So that relief, if you like, the social wage is being eroded by the cost of these administered prices."
IOL previously reported that Eskom has received R140bn from government over the past two years to help pay off some of its debt, with another R80bn coming this year.
A presentation to the National Assembly’s electricity and energy portfolio committee laid bare its performance during a briefing on the third-quarter results of the department and the six entities it oversees. The presentation showed that during this period, Eskom achieved 22 of its 35 performance targets, or about 63%.
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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