A meeting called by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in Durban to discuss the proposed electricity tariff increases by Eskom collapsed when hundreds of people arrived, demanding to be heard.
Nersa was holding a public hearing to gather the views of residents regarding the proposed hike in tariffs before it makes a determination on what tariff increases the power utility can impose.
Thursday and Friday had been set aside for the KwaZulu-Natal leg of the hearings. However, Thursday’s meeting was moved at the last minute from its original venue to the Royal Hotel in Durban, which could only accommodate about 100 people.
But dozens more showed up at the venue and demanded to get in. Nersa officials, who called off the meeting, said they had not anticipated such a large turnout. The DA also held a protest outside the venue calling for Nersa to reject Eskom’s proposed increases.
Nersa is holding public hearings on Eskom’s Sixth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD6) revenue application for the 2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28 financial years until December 4.
Eskom is looking to increase tariffs, and ratepayers could find themselves having to accommodate close to a 40% increase after municipalities also add their increase on top of what the power utility has proposed.
The meeting was disrupted and subsequently called off shortly after Eskom had made its presentation, and the question-and-answer session was about to begin. It is understood that once the meeting is restarted, the process will start afresh with Eskom’s presentation.
It could not be established yesterday whether today’s hearing will go ahead. Nersa officials said they will post updates on the matter on their social media accounts.
Once the venue reached capacity on Thursday, those waiting outside began singing and shouting, demanding to be let in. Community members argued that they should be part of the meeting, as electricity is a serious issue.
They contended that the last-minute change of venue and the use of such a small space excluded them, turning what was supposed to be a genuine process for airing their views into a mere box-ticking exercise.
Describing what happened, Nomfundo Maseti, a member of the Nersa board, said: “We had a hearing on the application brought by Eskom. We started the proceedings quite well. Eskom delivered its presentation, and as we were about to ask questions on Eskom’s presentation, we heard people singing outside, indicating that they also wanted to be part of the meeting. We realised that the room was not big enough to accommodate everyone.”
She said the attendees insisted that the meeting could not proceed because everyone wanted to come in, leading to the decision to adjourn the meeting indefinitely until a venue that could accommodate the larger crowd could be found. She noted that Nersa had not expected such a large turnout for the hearing.
“It is only today we saw so many people coming to the hearing,” adding that the turnout indicated the public’s interest in the process.
“As a regulator, we are excited to see so many people interested in understanding how the increase will affect them and to have their voices heard by Nersa before making a decision,” she said.
Asad Gaffar of the Westville Ratepayers’ Association said Nersa had not planned well. “If you say it’s a public meeting, making a venue that can only accommodate 100 people is unacceptable; they must find a larger venue.
“The fact that there are so many people wanting to present themselves shows that they are not happy about this tariff increase, and it is affecting them significantly, which is what we have been saying, and nobody wanted to listen.”
Vusi Zweni, a community member, stated that the public hearing had been reduced to a box-ticking exercise, arguing that the change of venue and the postponing of the meeting amounted to wasteful expenditure.
“Electricity and unemployment go hand-in-hand. If they increase this by 40%, this is a huge burden on the public,” emphasising that the increase was largely due to the failures of municipalities being shifted onto the public.
“They must sort out the municipalities that owe them (Eskom) billions and not force the public into the crime (of stealing electricity),” he said.
UMngeni Municipality mayor Chris Pappas also questioned the venue size.
“This was a last-minute change of the venue. This is clearly a tick-box exercise, if they really wanted meaningful public participation that would have involved more and larger venues. As the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we want to be heard; we do not want them to come here and impose a 40% increase on us.
“We want a bigger venue, we want to be heard, and we want our inputs to be taken seriously.”