Cape Town - On Monday consumers will find themselves having to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for electricity as tariff hikes kick in.
This follows a decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to grant Eskom a 9.41% increase for 2019/2020, 8.10% for 2020/2021 and a further 5.83% for the 2021/2022 financial year. The increases are in addition to the 4.41% Nersa had already granted Eskom as part of its Regulatory Clearing Account grant.
The increase has been met with backlash from consumers who questioned the fairness of paying more for electricity when the country experiences load shedding.
Kimberly Hoffman, 28, from Kuils River said her household keeps making adjustments to save on electricity.
“We try by all means to save on electricity because it is so expensive. We used to get free units but that all stopped a few years ago.
“Since the day zero scare we don’t use the geyser that often. We bought an urn to heat water and two people use that to wash so that saves on our water and electricity. We gave up using the dryer for laundry, we have cut-off times at night for electronics but it doesn’t make much of a dent. We are still buying electricity three or four times a month.
“With all that, Eskom still can’t keep the lights on, then you have people who have illegal connections and are paying next to nothing for it while the rest of us are buckling and government does little to curb this.”
Masizole Simelani, 45, from the Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi said they have no other option but to go with illegal connections, whose suppliers also have variable pricing.
“We don’t have electricity here so we have no option but to use the illegal connections, we pay R200 for the connection every month,” he said.
“There was a big fight earlier this year because our supplier wanted to increase this amount to R250 and we said no because this amount is already too steep. But we are dependent on these people who threaten to cut us off and we have nowhere else to turn.”
Eskom has over the years reported losses due to illegal connections to run in millions of rands, with no sign of the situation slowing down.
On Friday, Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe reported its technicians were pelted with stones in Garankuwa, Pretoria, while inspecting electricity meters and removing illegal connections and had to suspend operations.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse portfolio manager for energy Ronald Chauke, said: “Usually people go for illegal connections because they tell themselves electricity is expensive and can’t afford it, and some might not have official connection points and that is where we have a problem, especially in informal settlements.
“The increase is definitely going to affect consumer’s pockets. For instance, the increase for Eskom customers will be at 13.8% from next month and for municipal consumers will be at 15.6% from July 1 and with municipalities they will include what we call a 5-10% surcharge so they are likely to be paying at 18 to 20% increases.
“And that is where it is important for us to start understanding our electricity bill and to understand how pricing should be.
“If we don’t understand we need to request proper basic level of education from the authorities, to take them to task so that they simplify these tariffs issues so that people understand what they are paying for and why.”
Chauke said while the increase would hit consumers hard, it was important for them to be educated on how they can qualify for reduced tariffs.
“To cushion consumers happens through what is called the lifeline block traffics which is administered by Nersa and those customers, depending on whether they are supplied by the municipality or Eskom directly, have to be put into an indigent list at the areas of supply. If they did not apply for them to be in the list, they must register for that list so they can qualify for free basic electricity. If they don’t do that, they will be priced like any other customers.”