Pretoria - The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) runs the risk of having its building on Madiba Street set alight should it oppose an imminent court challenge against its decision to grant Eskom an 18.65% tariff increase for the 2022/2023 financial year.
This was a threat made by Azanian People's Organisation's (Azapo) deputy president Kekeletso Khena yesterday during a march led by #NotInMyName against the ongoing load shedding and high electricity costs.
Addressing protesters outside Nersa's building, Khena said: "As they (Nersa) are going to court, they are not going to oppose those court papers.
“Listen Nersa: You are not going to oppose those (court) papers. You are going to allow that court process to be done and be done very quickly and allow that decision to be set aside, because that decision does not serve the South Africans. If you do oppose it, we are not just going to come back to this building; we will come back and burn it."
Members of #NotInMyName head to Nersa and the Union Buildings during a protest march against ongoing load shedding and high electricity tariff increases. #Loadshedding #loadsheddingstage6 #Eskom pic.twitter.com/Yz1vAQqtaI
The DA has vowed to take Nersa to court with a view to interdict its approved tariff increases.
In addition, organisations and activists such as UDM, Build One South Africa, IFP, Numsa, policy analyst Lukhona Mnguni, Phiwe Mehlo and Ntsikie Mgayiya have asked a team of lawyers to issue a letter of demand to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan over load shedding and to stop the 18.65% tariff hike.
Khena and other Azapo members said they had been camping outside Nersa's offices since Monday.
"For the last five days that I have been here, Nersa has had power for 24 hours every day," she said.
#NotInMyName was also joined by Mamelodi Nellmapius Eersterust Stakeholders Forum members, who converged at Church Square in the morning before departing to Nersa and the Union Buildings to hand over the memorandum of demands.
Spokesperson for #NotInMyName, Khutso Semetjane, who read out the memorandum outside Nersa's office, expressed anger that Cabinet ministers didn't have power interruptions while "hospitals, where people are dying, do not have electricity".
He said people in the townships were forced to connect illegally to the grid because they could not afford paying for exorbitant electricity.
In the memo, marchers said they were appalled "at the decision-making or lack thereof that has legitimised the looting scheme that is load shedding".
"As it stands, citizens are paying for a service that is interrupted at any given moment without just cause. So, it is uncouth for Nersa to grant an 18,65% tariff hike; for people to pay more for a service that they continuously receive less of," said the memo in part.
Members of #NotInMyName head to Nersa and the Union Buildings during a protest march against ongoing load shedding and high electricity tariff increases. #Eskom #loadsheddingstage6 #Loadshedding pic.twitter.com/34H7mEmNDh
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Demonstrators also bemoaned the fact that the scheduled power outages have had a significant impact on the livelihoods and businesses of South Africans.
"Interestingly, the constant interruption of power in stages has neither repaired nor lessened the impact of the 11 broken down generators. As such, there is no science or logic that justifies the tariff hike. What are people paying more for?" they asked in a memo.
In response to the demands, Nersa's chief executive Namalanga Sithole undertook to take the memorandum to the board for it to look at it and be able to respond within seven days.
From there, marchers headed to the Presidency at the Union Buildings, where they called for the government to declare a national state of disaster in light of the rolling blackouts that engulfed the country.
They also wanted a moratorium on coal exports and salary increases to be issued until load shedding was resolved.
They demanded that the public be provided with weekly “family meeting” updates and for Nersa’s tariff hike to be staved-off.
"Following the announcement of the tariff hike authorised by Nersa, South Africans have expressed how crestfallen they are at the mismanagement of state resources, particularly where load shedding is concerned," said the memorandum.
Pretoria News