DA leader John Steenhuisen has instructed his lawyers to apply for an interdict to halt the implementation of the highly controversial compound tariff hike of 31.39% granted to Eskom amid rampant blackouts.
This after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved Eskom’s application last week. An electricity tariff increase of 18.65% will come into effect in April, as well as a further increase of 12.74% for the 2024/2025 financial year.
Steenhuisen said on Tuesday that the DA wants the court to declare the implementation of the hike and Eskom’s decisions to implement rampant blackouts as unlawful and invalid.
“As part of this application, we will also ask the court to direct government to file, within 30 days, a comprehensive plan, including short-term, medium-term, and long-term steps to avert the energy crisis,” said the DA leader.
“It has become clear that government will not act in the interests of the citizens of this country, including protecting them from blackouts and unaffordable electricity tariffs, unless compelled by a court of law to do so.”
Steenhuisen is adamant on fighting the energy crisis, saying the DA is not backing down on the scheduled march to the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg next week, where it will protest over the governing party’s poor response to loadshedding, tariff hikes, and corruption.
“This Power To The People march is directed at the party whose corrupt policy of cadre deployment and corrupt tender manipulations have been directly responsible for the crisis we now find ourselves in,” he said.
“South Africans, who have already had to spend a third of 2022 in darkness and are burdened with indefinite stage-six loadshedding, are now expected to also pay for the looting and mismanagement of Eskom through exorbitant tariff increases.
“Keep in mind that electricity tariffs have already increased by more than 650% since this crisis started in 2007, which is quadruple the inflation rate over the same period.
“The DA rejects this tariff increase by Nersa, we reject stage-six loadshedding, and we reject government’s poor response or rather, lack of response, to the biggest crisis our country has faced in the history of our democracy.”
Also read: Prepare to dig deeper for electricity bill starting in April
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