The GOOD party has called on the Democratic Alliance (DA) to use its requested debate on high electricity prices to explain to Cape Town residents why it implemented above National Energy Regulator of South Africa- (Nersa-) approved increases in 2021/22 and 2022/23.  

Last week the DA wrote to National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza requesting that Parliament hold a debate on the rapidly rising cost of electricity, which it said is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many South African households.

DA spokesperson on Electricity and Energy Kevin Mileham stated that electricity tariffs had reached “crisis levels” and warned of a “real risk” that South African households could become trapped in a permanent high cost of living environment owing to high electricity prices.

Its request followed Eskom being allowed to claw back billions from consumers for the 2021/22 financial year, on top of an expected application for a 36.15% tariff increase for 2025.

GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor Anton Louw said while his party supports the call for a debate, South Africans must “not be fooled by the DA who is either unaware of what’s happening in their own municipalities or is deliberately trying to mislead the country”. 

He claimed that the DA had played an “undeniable role” in driving up the prices of electricity and was trying to divert attention away from their “own greedy, and illegal, actions”.

“We must urgently debate this crisis and the DA must use it to finally come clean,” highlighted Louw.

He noted that for the 2021/22 financial year, the Nersa-approved guideline increase was 7.47%, yet the City of Cape Town implemented a 9.6% hike.

The next year saw Nersa approve 15.1%, while the City went ahead with a 17.6% increase, he added.

“In both cases, the municipality’s application to apply for an increase above the Nersa guideline was dismissed, and the City continues to spend millions on legal costs fighting these illegal increases in court without any success,” he said.

Louw explained that in July this year, the DA demanded an end to the unfair R200 electricity surcharge in the City of Johannesburg; however, he said, at the same time, in the DA-led Cape Town, they imposed a similar R245 fixed tariff on properties valued over R1-million.

Polity.org.za has reached out to the DA for comment on the matter.