The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has raised concerns about Johannesburg City Power’s pre-approval and registration requirements for the installation of new small-scale energy generation (SSEG) systems, commonly referred to as solar energy systems.
The organisations said residents and businesses were not installing solar out of convenience but were responding to an unreliable electricity supply and rising tariffs.
It said City Power’s new six-step process, which includes approvals and inspections both before and after installation, introduces avoidable costs, significant delays and additional administrative burden.
“Outa believes these requirements go beyond what is reasonable or necessary.”
Outa said where installations were completed by qualified electricians and supported by a valid certificate of compliance, national safety standards were already met. Additional municipal processes in these cases served little practical purpose.
“Authorities should stop imposing processes that place unnecessary burdens on society,” said Wayne Duvenage, Outa CEO.
He said South Africans were investing their own money, within national safety compliance regulations, to keep the lights on.
“Adding layers of red tape only makes this harder.”
Outa said it was also concerned that previous SSEG registrations submitted to City Power had gone largely unprocessed. This raised questions about the effectiveness and intent of the registration system itself.
The organisation called on Johannesburg, Cape Town, Eskom and other stakeholders to revise their approach, prioritise safety and remove unnecessary administrative barriers.
TimesLIVE
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