The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) said on Friday that it strongly rejects the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA’s) decision to grant ESKOM a 12.7 per cent electricity tariff increase.
SAFTU stated: ‘This is a move that will further deepen the cost-of-living crisis and entrench energy poverty for millions of South Africans.
‘This hike is an insult to workers and the poor, especially when inflation is at just 3 per cent, unemployment is soaring, and wages remain stagnant.
‘Even more outrageous is that as soon as NERSA approved these excessive tariffs, ESKOM issued an advisory warning the country of a return to intensified load shedding!
‘This proves that higher tariffs are not improving electricity supply but merely bailing out ESKOM’s inefficiencies at the expense of consumers.
‘South Africans are being forced to pay more for a service that remains unreliable.
‘SAFTU has consistently warned that ESKOM’s unsustainable tariff hikes over the past 15 years have pushed electricity out of reach for the poor and working class.
‘In 2007, the average electricity tariff was around 19 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
‘Since then, ESKOM’s prices have skyrocketed by over 700 per cent, outpacing both inflation and wage growth.
‘Between 2008 and 2012, South Africans endured annual increases of up to 25 per cent per year under the guise of “cost recovery” and “capacity expansion”.
‘In 2019 alone, NERSA approved a 13.8 per cent increase, followed by 15.06 per cent in 2021, and 18.65 per cent in 2023 – all while ESKOM failed to stabilise generation or reduce load shedding.
‘Despite this, ESKOM remains in financial ruin, with debt bailouts of over R254 (£11 million) from the state while consumers are still expected to foot the bill.
‘The result? Millions of working class families can no longer afford electricity, and many have been cut off entirely.
This has led to:
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- An increase in illegal connections and electricity theft, as people seek alternatives to survive.
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- Businesses and industries shutting down or passing costs to consumers, worsening job losses and inflation.
• ‘A rise in energy poverty, with many households reverting to unsafe energy sources like paraffin and candles, increasing fire hazards.
‘NERSA’s mandate is to ensure fair pricing, yet it has rubber-stamped ESKOM’s demands year after year, ignoring submissions from SAFTU and other progressive voices that have called for:
‘1. A complete halt to tariff increases until ESKOM fixes inefficiencies, corruption, and debt mismanagement.
‘2. A shift away from a cost-recovery model that punishes consumers, towards a socially progressive pricing system that prioritises affordability for poor households.
‘3. An investigation into ESKOM’s financial mismanagement, instead of making South Africans pay for its failures.
‘4. State investment in a publicly owned, reliable, and sustainable energy system, instead of handing electricity generation to private profiteers through Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
‘SAFTU DEMANDS:
‘1. Immediate reversal of the 12.7 per cent increase. NERSA must rescind this unjustified decision.
‘2. An end to the tariff hike cycle. No new increases until ESKOM improves efficiency and affordability.
‘3. A national audit of ESKOM’s finances. Expose and eliminate corruption, overpricing, and mismanagement.
‘4. Protection of low-income households Expand free basic electricity and introduce progressive tariff structures.
‘5. NERSA’s independence must be restored. It must regulate in the interest of the public, not corporate or state capture forces.
‘SAFTU will mobilise workers, communities, and progressive forces to fight this decision.
‘We will not allow ESKOM and NERSA to continue forcing the poor to subsidise their failures, while businesses and the elite benefit.
‘We reject this daylight robbery – enough is enough!’
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) also stated on Friday that it is disappointed that the ANC led government has granted ESKOM a tariff hike of 12.7 per cent.
Cosatu said: ‘This is four times the inflation rate and far above any increase workers have received.
‘It will push the costs of goods up and make life much more expensive for workers. It will deepen poverty and act as a stumbling block to economic growth and job creation.
‘Government needs to act decisively and deal with the 90 billion rands (£3.886 billion) debt owed to ESKOM by municipalities.
‘Ordinary consumers should not be pickpocketed and made to suffer for the sins of criminals, inept politicians and incompetent managers.
‘Workers have suffered long enough. ESKOM and government must do their work and fix the leakages in ESKOM including illegal connections and pilferage.
‘Government must relieve ESKOM of its debt commitments to it and allow it to invest in its generation capacity.
The head of the Eastern Cape Department of Health, Dr Rolene Wagner, said on Friday that the financial crisis in the department has reached such proportions that they will not be able to pay overtime and other remuneration, other than salaries, until the new financial year.
With unpaid bills of 5.3 billion rands (£229,000) piling up, the Eastern Cape Department of Health admitted to its staff in a letter this week that it will also not be able to pay overtime or performance bonuses until the new financial year.
Their unpaid bills are half a billion more than last year.
Wagner said: ‘In 2024 an unpaid telephone and internet bill of 36.5million rands shut down the emergency medical services.
The new steps Wagner announced include that overtime worked up to the end of December 2024, across the department, will be processed for payment.
Payment of general overtime across the department, for January, February and March 2025, will be deferred to the next financial year, 2025-26.
Payment of performance bonuses ordinarily paid in 2024-25 will be deferred to 2025-26.
Last week, nurses, porters and other staff aggrieved by the non-payment of December overtime brought Dora Nginza Hospital, the centre for child and maternal health in the region, to a standstill and locked gates, cutting off ambulances from entry in an illegal, violent strike, which was brought under control after three days.
Lindelwa Mdlalose from the Health & Other Services Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) said: ‘As Hospersa we have raised our dissatisfaction regarding the late payment of overtime, alluding that the provincial budget is being presented yearly.
‘We see no reason why staff members are not being prioritised and paid according to their servicing rendered.
‘The EC Department of Health is not taking workers seriously and we feel that this conduct is equal to exploitation because some of our members are acting on the higher position without pay, due to the non-filling of vacant posts.
‘The department’s financial problems have also hit two of the cancer units in the provinces, the paediatric oncology unit and the haematology unit, since chemotherapy drugs have run out.
‘The oncology department at Gqeberha’s Provincial Hospital is facing devastating chemotherapy shortages because the Eastern Cape Department of Health has failed to pay its pharmaceutical suppliers.
‘The department has admitted that a shortage chemotherapy drugs were part of their ongoing struggle to pay their bills but added that it would have been addressed by last week.’
- The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) is threatening to shut down Johannesburg, calling for the removal of acting chief operating officer (COO) Helen Botes.
Municipal workers are gathered outside the city council on Thursday morning ahead of the first council sitting.
They are calling for her appointment as acting Chief Operating Officer (COO) to be nullified, claiming no due process was followed to have her hired for the top post.
The union has also highlighted a string of allegations arising from her time as CEO of Johannesburg Property Company (JPC).
Regional SAMWU chairperson Ester Mtatyana said the city will collapse if she remains as the acting COO.
Mtatyana said: ‘This lady is having a lot of scandals from JPC.
‘Not one of our grievances was attended to and now we are here again to put our issues to the councillors of the City of Johannesburg. Even if they accept her position SAMWU disagrees and is opposed to Botes.’
