Alert issued on price hike

NELSON Mandela Bay businesses and residents are set to gather in Zwide tomorrow for a public hearing to oppose the nearly 17% increase proposed by power utility Eskom.

The proposed increase – said to go against a 2013 agreement to increase tariffs by 8% each year until 2018 – has sparked anger, with businesses warning it would worsen an already volatile economic situation.

If Eskom gets its way, consumers could see themselves paying 16.6% more for electricity by April as the power utility tries to recover R22.8-billion in additional costs incurred in the 2013-2014 financial year.

This translates to an additional 8.6% increase on top of the 8% agreed upon two years ago.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber accused Eskom of making South Africans pay for its inefficiencies. Spokeswoman Cindy Preller said the chamber “simply cannot accept the raising of tariffs by nearly 17% by April this year, instead of the 8% already agreed upon”.

“Citizens and businesses cannot afford increases beyond the original agreement.

“Once granted, this application would not be in the interest of an enabling environment for business to be globally competitive – particularly in the current economic climate,” Preller said.

“Business simply cannot absorb the effects of this RCA [regulatory clearing account] application, which we believe is to recover inefficiencies in maintenance and planning by Eskom.