Cape Town residents are growing increasingly vocal about their frustration over rising electricity tariffs, with many stating the soaring costs are becoming unaffordable and even calling for a return to load-shedding.
A recent VOC News poll on Instagram revealed that 70% of respondents would rather endure rolling blackouts than continue paying exorbitant electricity rates.
Founder of the “Electricity Prices Must Fall” campaign, Natasha Gertse, stated that families are forced to make difficult decisions simply to survive.
“Cost-wise, people would prefer load-shedding over paying for electricity,” she told VOC News.
“We’re already doing our own ‘load-shedding’ within our households to cope. Electricity has become a luxury. Our normal citizens cannot afford it. You have to choose between bread and electricity.”
Listen to the full interview with Gertse below:
Energy expert Thomas Garner said the high cost of electricity is the result of long-standing political and policy failures.
“In 1998, the government published a white paper that proposed diversification through Independent Power Producers (IPPs), targeting at least 30% of the supply. But despite this being their own policy, it was never implemented and in fact, was undermined,” Garner explained.
“The ideological tug-of-war within government between capitalist and socialist approaches meant that policy was never executed properly. That is a key reason we’re in this mess today.”
Listen to the full interview with Garner below:
While many South Africans are investing in alternative power solutions like solar, the poorest households remain the most vulnerable to both rising prices and energy insecurity.
VOC News
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