“Enough is Enough”: Energy Minister Reads Eskom the Riot Act Over Soaring Power Prices

South African households and businesses, already buckling under the weight of relentless load shedding, have been bracing for the next blow: another steep hike in the price of electricity. But now, a powerful voice has stepped in to say “no more.” The country’s Electricity and Energy Minister has publicly read Eskom the riot act, delivering a sharp and unequivocal message that the utility cannot simply keep passing its failures onto the public.

This firm stance represents a significant shift in the dynamic between the government and the power utility. It signals that the political cost of endless tariff increases is now too high to ignore.

A Direct Challenge to Eskom’s Financial Model

The Minister’s core argument is straightforward: Eskom’s first and most urgent task is to fix itself, not to repeatedly ask consumers to pay more for a broken product. The utility has become synonymous with inefficiency, and the minister made it clear that its internal problemsfrom operational mismanagement to cost overruns and bloated expenditureare the root cause of its financial woes.

The message is that these internal failures are not the public’s responsibility to finance. Before coming to the public for more money, Eskom must demonstrate a credible and ruthless plan to cut its own wasteful spending, improve the efficiency of its power stations, and hold its own management accountable for performance.

The Burden on the South African Public

For millions of South Africans, another large electricity price hike would be catastrophic. It is a direct tax on living and doing business. It forces families to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table. It pushes small businesses, the backbone of the economy, closer to the edge of closure.

The Minister’s intervention acknowledges this reality. It recognizes that the social and economic contract is breaking. Citizens are being asked to pay world-class prices for a sub-standard, unreliable service. This is unsustainable, and the government is finally drawing a line in the sand.

What Happens Next?

The ball is now firmly in Eskom’s court. The utility has been put on notice that its usual strategyarriving at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) with a begging bowl and a story of impending doomwill no longer receive automatic political backing.

Eskom must now go back to the drawing board. It will be under immense pressure to present a new plan that focuses on radical internal reform, cost-cutting, and improved operational performance. The era of the blank cheque is over.

This confrontation was inevitable. The Minister’s “riot act” is a message that resonates with every South African who has sat in the dark, frustrated and financially strained. The hope is that this firm stance will be the catalyst for the deep, structural change that Eskom has desperately needed for over a decade.

{Source: MyBroadBand}

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