LISTEN | Electricity ministry plans to strip Eskom of its monopoly to make electricity affordable

Electricity and energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the cost of electricity is unsustainable and unattainable as the poor are left in the dark. A solution is to allow additional power suppliers besides Eskom.

There is plenty of electricity but ordinary people cannot afford it amid tariff increases, he said. South Africa has reached “energy poverty”, where many people can’t afford the cost of electricity. 

The ministry will be aggressive in tackling energy poverty, he said.

Listen to Ramokgopa:

Ramokgopa's comments come after 100 days of no load-shedding.

“The rich are able to buy solar panels, inverters, batteries and they are able to harvest the sun to meet their energy requirements. The poor can’t do that. They can’t go to the bank because they don’t have the right credit profiles to borrow money for cheaper and cleaner electricity. The poor are excluded,” he said.

Ramokgopa laid out the department’s plans to close the inequality gap and aggressively address the problem of energy poverty. Plans include modernisation of infrastructure and “not putting all [our] eggs in one Eskom basket”.

The ministry is hoping to support small- and medium-scale energy businesses that would employ people and ensure energy security.

TimesLIVE