A public hearing in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday to discuss Eskom's proposed electricity tariff increases for 2013/14 to 2017/18  was adjourned by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) following disruptions allegedly caused by members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).

The energy regulator said Numsa opposed the holding of the hearing in Port Elizabeth and demanded that Nersa conduct seven public hearings in seven districts of the Eastern Cape.

Nersa said it was “seriously concerned” about the action taken by Numsa members that sought to prevent it from implementing its mandate, as well as denying its stakeholders and the public the ability to exercise their democratic right.

However, Numsa said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon that the disruption of the hearing was not sanctioned by the union or any of its elected leadership and that, while it understood the motives behind the interruption, it did not agree with the approach adopted by those who disrupted the hearing.

“This unacceptable behaviour undermines both the grievances of the public and the legitimate demands we are putting on the table, which is for Nersa not to approve Eskom’s application,” Numsa spokesperson Castro Ngobese said.

He added that Nersa should consider the views as narrated to them by both union and community leaders to hold the hearings in areas that were accessible to ordinary communities, so that they did not become “aloof talk-shops among the elites or the privileged class”.

While Numsa had been granted permission to picket outside the public hearing venue, Nersa said conditions dictated that picketing be restricted to the entrance of the venue at demarcated areas, that no entrance or exit be blocked and that no interference with patrons to the hotel be allowed.

“Numsa did not abide to the above conditions and Nersa strongly condemns the actions taken by Numsa members,” Nersa said in a statement.

Numsa appealed to members of the public to adhere to the picketing rules, to exercise maximum discipline and allow Nersa to continue with the hearings without disruption or intimidation.

“Numsa, as a disciplined union, grounded in the best traditions of the congress movement, will never be part of an agenda that disrupts a democratic process,” Ngobese added.

Nersa said it would continue to conduct public hearings in other provinces, with the continuation of the public hearings in the Eastern Cape to be announced in due course.