{"id":696,"date":"2020-11-19T19:32:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T19:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=696"},"modified":"2020-11-19T19:32:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T19:32:58","slug":"faced-with-spiralling-costs-fed-up-consumers-resort-to-stealing-electricity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/faced-with-spiralling-costs-fed-up-consumers-resort-to-stealing-electricity","title":{"rendered":"Faced with spiralling costs, fed up consumers resort to stealing electricity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Durban – KWAZULU-NATAL consumers fed up with Eskom\u2019s \u201clooting, corruption and mismanagement\u201d have resorted to stealing electricity as they cannot afford to pay the parastatal\u2019s spiralling electricity tariffs.<\/p>\n

This was the word of several community organisation leaders to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) which embarked on the provincial leg of its roadshow to engage with consumers after Eskom resubmitted its application for its Multi-Year Price Determination for the 2014\/15, 2015\/16 and 2016\/17 financial years.<\/p>\n

Eskom general manager Hasha Tlhotlhalemaje told the Gauteng leg of the roadshow on Tuesday that the application had been remitted again following a Pretoria High Court ruling in its favour in July which allowed it to recoup R69 billion in revenue that Nersa had earlier disallowed.<\/p>\n

Sikwenzeleni Community Project representative Bongani Mthembu lambasted Eskom for the \u201clarge-scale looting\u201d of the parastatal\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople die due to illegal connections. There is a loss of dignity due to no connection to electricity. If you are a household with no electricity you are seen as if there is something not right with you,\u201d he said. Mthembu said it appeared Eskom was intent on \u201cmilking\u201d consumers through electricity price hikes but this was not sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is large-scale looting at Eskom which has put all of us in this predicament. This looting has now involved people who steal electricity because the rich do it with impunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dumisani Mvuyane, who told Nersa he represented people living with cancer and other terminal illnesses, said they struggled without electricity as they needed to keep their medication refrigerated.<\/p>\n

He said SMMES had been forced to steal electricity because they could not afford the high tariffs.<\/p>\n

He said consumers were also \u201cdistressed\u201d by electricity billing problems and highlighted the plight of a consumers who had received bills of more than R23 000 and R10 600.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis clearly shows that Eskom and the municipality are not doing what they are supposed to do. Municipalities are a big part of what communities are facing; they put a mark-up and do not make proper billing, they estimate.\u201d South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) co-ordinator Desmond D\u2019Sa criticised Eskom\u2019s former executives for state capture and for \u201cgetting huge bonuses while workers were losing their jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell Eskom they must move to a just transition where energy becomes cheaper and they provide electricity to the poor and take people off the grid. We need to get rid of those top managers who have huge fantastic salaries and get people with heart and soul who will work for the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ubunye Bama Hostela representative Mvuso Ntombel said people were \u201csick and tired\u201d of Eskom. He said poor people which included people of \u201call races\u201d were forced to source electricity from Eskom while the rich had options.<\/p>\n

Nersa full-time member for electricity Nhlanhla Gumede urged the public to send further comments via email to [email protected]<\/p>\n

The Mercury<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Durban – KWAZULU-NATAL consumers fed up with Eskom\u2019s \u201clooting, corruption and mismanagement\u201d have resorted to stealing electricity as they cannot afford to pay the parastatal\u2019s spiralling electricity tariffs. This was the word of several community organisation leaders to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) which embarked on the provincial leg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[274,275],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nFaced with spiralling costs, fed up consumers resort to stealing electricity - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/faced-with-spiralling-costs-fed-up-consumers-resort-to-stealing-electricity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faced with spiralling costs, fed up consumers resort to stealing electricity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – South-Africa. Durban – KWAZULU-NATAL consumers fed up with Eskom\u2019s \u201clooting, corruption and mismanagement\u201d have resorted to stealing electricity as they cannot afford to pay the parastatal\u2019s spiralling electricity tariffs. 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