Madam Acting Speaker, yesterday Eskom submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, an application for an electricity tariff hike of 16% each year for the next five years. This is nearly triple current inflation.
Eskom's tariff hike of triple the inflation rate will discourage investment in productive, job-creating economic activity. This is particularly true for investment in small businesses, for whom electricity is a substantial input cost. These increases will also put additional pressure on poor South Africans already struggling to make ends meet.
The DA will continue its calls for alternative pricing models, in which consumers and businesses are not made to pay for inefficient capital expenditure programmes by a monopolistic state-owned energy provider. Eskom seems to ignore the negative consequences of their perpetual quest to squeeze money from ordinary South Africans and potential job creators. The DA, Madam Acting Speaker, will meet with Nersa this week and expects that Nersa will do the right thing and unequivocally reject Eskom's price hike request. Thank you. [Applause.]