COSATU, SACP, SANCO, YCL and TAC in Gauteng: statement on the Nersa Public hearings on Eskom Tariffs Increase

The above organisations in Gauteng Province have noted the public hearings being conducted by the Nersa on the proposed tariff increase by Eskom. We have also noted that these public hearing are not held for the first time by Nersa and in particular on the proposed Eskom tariff increases. We welcome these public hearing as they will enable the public to input on the proposed tariff increases.  

We have noted that such public hearings were conducted previously by Nersa during last year and the public was invited to participate and more 170 submission where made in a bona fide manner and majority of these views where totally against the proposed increase by Eskom.

In our view Nersa has failed to take these views into account when deciding on the appropriate increase and this has had a very negative impact on the economy of the country and in particular on the developmental agenda of the country.

We hence wish to warn Nersa that this time they should not take the public for granted as this will have a very negative impact to our trust in Nersa and more so to the public hearings conducted by them. We will be approaching the public hearing over the next two days with open minds, to engage with the process arranged.

We however believe that Nersa has long ago taken a decision on this matter to grant Eskom their 35% increase and these public hearing are meant to just comply with the law. We are also of the view that these public hearings are just a public exercise meant to mislead us that Nersa has taken our views into account while in reality a decision has long being taken in regardless of the submission to be made by various organizations.

We also wish to indicate that we are ready to mobilize our members and the community at large in the event that the majority view is not taken into account by Nersa. We will also be mounting a campaign for the removal of the board in the event that the needs of the community are not taken into account this way around. We believe that the minority view cannot be allowed to prevail over the majority view in a democratic country and in particular in South Africa.

Statement issued jointly by COSATU, SACP, SANCO, YCL and TAC, January 20 2010

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