Minister of Energy and Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has moved to assure South Africans that the department is committed, together with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and municipalities, to finding an enduring solution to the rising cost of electricity in South Africa.<\/p>\n
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The Minister was addressing a media briefing on Monday morning. \u201cThere\u2019s been an exponential rise in the cost of electricity. Our electricity pricing plan needs to kick in and that\u2019s the primary preoccupation of the work of the ministry now working with Eskom; working with municipalities and working with SALGA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramokgopa addressed some initiatives by municipalities, which have not been well received by communities. He cited the example of a \u201csurcharge\u201d (also known as a network fee).<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe really don\u2019t want to engage publicly on the merits of whether the R200 [surcharge] is necessary or not. What we want to do is to find a more enduring and robust solution to this problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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The Minister added that discussions with SALGA had already begun during the sixth administration.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s an appreciation that it\u2019s important that we pull together. This situation is untenable. Communities are getting more and more enraged [and] people just can\u2019t afford the cost of electricity.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs the ministry, together with the Deputy Minister, we have taken a view that we will not fold our arms although that domain\u2026 is the exclusive purview of local authorities. Municipalities rightfully say that it\u2019s their domain but we are agreed with SALGA that we are going to resolve this problem domestically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Ramokgopa said in finding solutions, the role of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) is indispensable. \u201cAs an independent authority, they\u2019ve got the duty to protect the consumer, they\u2019ve got a duty to interrogate the proposed tariff increases from Eskom and also from municipalities. So what we\u2019re going to do is not to pressure Nersa but to work with Nersa.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are going to insist on a Nersa framework\u2026 that takes care of the interests of the poor and the marginalised so that we don\u2019t deny them access to electricity. Protect the interests also of the affluent because we can\u2019t get to a situation where the pricing structure is such that it becomes unaffordable over time but also protects industries\u2026 that don\u2019t become competitive as a result of the pricing structure.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe will work with the municipalities. We know what you are going through and it is our intention to resolve this question,\u201d he said. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Energy and Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has moved to assure South Africans that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t