Drakenstein mayor Conrad Poole has raised a formal objection against the 18.65% electricity tariff increase that was approved for State-owned power utility Eskom from April 1, asking that the increase not be higher than the country’s inflation rate of 7.4%.
The tariff increase was granted to Eskom by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for the 2023/24 financial year.
Poole is lobbying on behalf of the residents and businesses of Drakenstein who will eventually have to bear the brunt of the increase.
“This hike will force municipalities in South Africa to increase residents’ and business’ electricity bills even further this year. This while Eskom’s loadshedding is constantly subjecting people to inconvenience, extra expenses and the risks of crime,” Poole explains, highlighting that nearly 60% of his municipalities’ residents are indigent, while many others struggle to keep afloat financially.
The Drakenstein municipality, in the Western Cape, has been continually forced to invest additional funds to ensure sewage pumps and reservoirs function as they should, to repair electricity infrastructure that breaks down owing to loadshedding and to curb cable theft, which often occurs during bouts of loadshedding.
Poole believes the municipality is unfairly disadvantaged by the tariff increase, since it is one of the few in the country that does not default on its bills.