Eskom’s massive corruption and ineffectiveness can simply no longer be funded by consumers. That was AfriForum’s point of view on 14 May 2018 during the civil rights organisation’s presentation at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) last public session in Midrand regarding Eskom’s latest interim tariff application. Eskom wants to collect R67 billion from the public by means of increased electricity tariffs.
Morné Mostert, Head of Local Government Affairs at AfriForum, argued in his presentation that Eskom suffered from corruption, fraud and maladministration in the past.
“In its presentation, AfriForum focused on what Eskom is allowed to collect from the consumer according to legislation, which only includes justifiable costs. The costs that were exceeded on the Medupi, Kusile and Ingula power stations can be attributed to irregular, unauthorised, wasteful and fruitless expenditures. It is also in conflict with the Public Finance Management Act and thus by no means justifiable.”
Mostert furthermore argued that Eskom must firstly get its own affairs in order and have too many people employed that are generally being paid too much.
“The average salary at Eskom is more than R700 000 per year. Between 2007 and this year, the number of personnel increased with approximately 50% (from 32 000 to 48 000), while the amount of generated electricity stayed pretty much the same.”
Nersa will consider AfriForum’s commentary in its decision on Eskom’s possible tariff increases.
“We will continue to ensure that Eskom doesn’t saddle up the public with the cost of its self-created crises and fight for a better electricity distribution in South Africa,” concludes Mostert.