Parliament, Friday, 27 October 2023 – According to the residents of the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill (B23-2023) provides the required remedy to the challenge of the long-standing electricity shortages in South Africa. The residents have highlighted that the open market proposition made by the Bill will ensure that South Africans benefit from competition within the energy market.
The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy concluded the third of four public hearings in the Northern Cape at the Wrenchville Community Hall in Kuruman yesterday.
The Bill enjoyed the support of the majority among the participants in Kururman largely due to its promise of open and competitive market that has a prospect of benefiting Eskom and South Africans. Some participants emphasised that the Bill is long-overdue and that all efforts must be made to ensure that it is implemented efficiently to ensure that the poor reaps the harvest from energy tariff stabilisation as a result of competitive energy market.
Despite the support, there were numerous calls of caution against the privatisation of Eskom as it has a potential to negatively affect the poor, especially because private companies are interested in making profits that might make electricity unaffordable. Furthermore, the participants argued that energy generation should remain the responsibility of the state as it is the state which is constitutionally responsible to protect the people especially the poor.
A participants argued that the unbundling of Eskom has a potential to lead to double tariff increases as generation and transmission companies would, from time to time, make such increases to meet the new and unavoidable demands of their different operations.
Those against the Bill underscored their distrust that the Bill will lead to reduced tariffs for the poor. They argued that currently the majority of the poor residents suffer from unaffordable high electricity tariffs.
The participants unanimously called for cable theft to be classified as a criminal offence as it destroys municipal and Eskom infrastructure and has unbearable cost implications for households. They also called for harsher sentence more than the five years imprisonment proposed in the Bill.
The committee will today hold the last round of public hearings in the Northern Cape at the Kimberley City Hall in Kimberley from 10 am. It invites interested individuals and organisations to come and share their views on the Bill. “Public participation remains a critical pillar of a democratic South Africa and public hearings provides an opportunity to the public to influence legislation that impacts their daily lives,” said Mr Sahlulele Luzipo, the Chairperson of the committee.
The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill aims to effect amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act of 2006, to improve the administration of the Act; to provide for additional electricity, new generation capacity and electricity infrastructure; and to provide for the establishment, duties, powers, and functions of the Transmission System Operator SOC Ltd.
It will also provide for an open market platform that will allow for competitive electricity trading; and to assign the duties, powers, and functions of the Transmission System Operator SOC Ltd to the National Transmission Company South Africa SOC Ltd.
The committee welcomed the comments made in Kuruman and assured the participants that their views are important and will serve to strengthen the Bill.
The details of the Northern Cape Hearings as follows:
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DISTRICT |
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Frances Baard |
Sol Plaatjie |
27 October 2023 at 10:00 |
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ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINERALS AND ENERGY MR SAHLULELE LUZIPO
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