DA goes to court to stop implementation of Eskom tariff hikes

The DA filed an application in the Pretoria high court on Thursday to stop the implementation of an 18.65% tariff increase by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa).

Party leader John Steenhuisen said the application’s founding affidavit was in two parts. 

The first seeks to interdict the implementation of Nersa’s decision to hike tariffs. 

Part B is a semi-urgent review of various government decisions relating to the continuing energy crisis, one being Nersa’s decision to increase tariffs.

The DA also challenges the government’s decisions to implement load-shedding and its response to the power crisis.

“Pending Part B, Nersa and Eskom should not implement Nersa’s decision. Nersa’s decision is irrational, unlawful and unreasonable,” Steenhuisen said in court papers.

The DA listed 20 respondents, including Nersa, Eskom, President Cyril Ramaphosa, several ministers, all premiers and the SA Local Government Association (Salga).

Steenhuisen said previously that Nersa required Eskom to subsidise the price of electricity by imposing below-cost tariffs.

“These tariffs ensured that millions of people in SA, who otherwise could not afford electricity, had access to power.

“Nersa has abandoned that policy by steadily increasing Eskom’s tariffs over the past several years and by drastically increasing the tariffs for the next two financial years.”

He said that Nersa took that decision unreasonably and irrationally, without considering its effect on vulnerable people and without taking measures to ensure those reliant on the subsidy could continue to access electricity.

“At its core, Nersa’s decision rests on the premise that an increase in tariffs will somehow assist Eskom in recovering from its dire financial circumstances and providing electricity to its customers. But this premise is flawed,” he said. Eskom could not be saved by the increase.

“Without structural reform, Eskom is a lost cause that cannot be saved or in any way assisted by making electricity customers pay more.

“Making customers pay significantly more, while Eskom will only provide less and less electricity, and will incur more and more debt, is patently irrational.”

Steenhuisen said the harm caused by the increased tariffs and concomitant inaccessibility to electricity was irreparable.

“If the tariffs are implemented, then set aside in Part B, people would either have not had access to electricity or paid too much for electricity. Their prejudice, at the stage of Part B, cannot be repaired.”

The DA seeks to have the urgent application heard on March 7 and Part B heard on May 9.

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