Eskom needs to increase prices to prevent load shedding - SA Institute of Electrical Engineers

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers said Eskom needed to increase its prices to prevent load shedding from returning.

The institute was a lone dissenting voice during the public consultation process in Soweto on Tuesday on Eskom's proposed 36% electricity hike.

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The CEO of the institute, Leanetse Matutoane, said the figure put forward by Eskom was a cost-reflective hike, meaning Eskom was charging what it costs to generate electricity.

"It’s definitely not a popular view given the state of the economy. It’s a question of what would you want. Do you want the truth that you need to pay this much because that will give you what you would want – that you’re not going to have load shedding because that’s what the operator is requiring to make sure they can maintain their fleet? Or do we still leave it as is because we cannot afford it?"

Meanwhile, Tommy Diedericks, a director at an energy consulting firm, Renew, said the tariff increase would be devastating for big businesses.

"These are the customers, the steel manufacturers and so on, that employ millions of South Africans and support most of the indigent communities. So, I suggested, instead of lumping them all together in a single tariff along with the same tariff a small shopping centre is under, these people need a separate tariff, and we need to look after them because the jobs they create are very important to the economy."