Eskom attempts to maintain its monopoly power at the expense of consumers
Eskom continues to waste the public's time by employing stalling tactics in an attempt to maintain its destructive monopoly. At Tuesday's Energy Portfolio Committee meeting, they again blocked the progression of the Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) bill by failing to submit a report on how the bill would impact its operations. This bill is one of the most crucial pieces of legislation necessary for institutional reform to break Eskom's monopolistic hold over power generation, distribution and transmission.
The committee today decided to grant Eskom a month within which to submit its draft report. Either way, the committee is resolute about passing the legislation by the end of the year with or without Eskom. The DA will ensure that this unanimous decision is upheld. The economy and ordinary consumers can no longer afford the impacts of Eskom's entrenched power.
The Portfolio Committee on Energy has for the past few months been involved in deliberations over the ISMO bill, which is essentially concerned with the creation of an Independent Service and Market Operator that will remove the operations of the electricity transmission grid from Eskom's stranglehold and put it into the hands of an independent state owned entity. This legislation is an important first step in ensuring that we level the playing field for energy generation in South Africa and create the right institutional framework for addressing our energy crisis.
Despite the importance and urgency of this legislation, the committee took a decision two and a half months ago to suspend deliberations to give Eskom an opportunity to submit a report on the implications of transferring the assets of the grid to the new entity. They were meant to present their findings today. In fact, this report should have been completed a long time ago given that such a scenario was outlined in the energy white paper in 1998.
Having granted Eskom this opportunity, though, it was reported back to the committee today that the report has still not been completed and that Eskom has not even appointed the team to generate the report. This is unacceptable to the DA and it shows complete disdain on the part of Eskom towards the parliamentary process.
In his State of the Nation speech in 2010, President Zuma committed his government to establish an ISMO. South African consumers simply cannot afford any further delays on this issue. The DA will not allow Eskom to hold back this important process and we will continue to fight for an Independent Service and Market Operator where the ownership of the transmission grid is finally wrested from the monopolistic arms of Eskom.
Statement issued by Lance Greyling MP, DA Shadow Minister of Energy, August 7 2012
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
