Question No 1253
Mrs M Wenger (DA) to ask the Minister of Energy:
(1) Whether, with reference to her statement that the government together with Eskom would assist Angola to rebuild their electricity supply (details furnished), a further 40 percent increase is being requested by Eskom; if so, (a) how much will assistance to rebuild Angola’s electricity supply cost and (b) how is this justified in light of the needy who have not yet had access to electricity;
(2) Whether she has taken cognisance of the critical effects that consumers are experiencing with the continuous rise of the cost of electricity; of not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
I (a) the assistance to Angola has no bearing on the electricity tariff increase in South Africa, because the transaction will be purely commercial. The details of the costs are not yet available because we still have to undertake investigations and then propose a business plan to assist them.
(b) As indicated above, this will be a commercial transaction
(2) Yes. That is why I am putting in place a two-pronged approach to cushion the domestic and indigent consumer in particular, in collaboration with municipalities and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs:
* Firstly, the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) penetration level will be increased to ensure that all qualifying households have access to FBE; municipalities will also be required to eliminate the leakage of FBE benefits to non-qualifying households
* Secondly, an inclining block tariff will be introduced by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) in line with the electricity pricing policy, in order to provide even more relief up to certain limited levels of consumption, which levels are typical for the indigent in particular.
Issued by: Department of Energy
12 October 2009
