Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has written to Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter, asking him to formally withdraw Eskom’s application to increase the price of electricity by 20.5% in the 2022/2023 financial year.

Alternatively, he has suggested to De Ruyter that the application could be revised to bring the planned increase in line with inflation.

Hill-Lewis says Capetonians simply cannot afford this increase.

The Mayor has suggested several alternative strategies to Eskom. These include:

● Urgently reducing Eskom’s bloated payroll;

● Cancelling tenders with unscrupulous suppliers who provide Eskom with goods and services at massively inflated prices;

● Ending corruption and mismanagement (irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure cost the utility R14,6 billion in 2020 and R7,4 billion in 2019);

● Recovering money that has been looted during the period of state capture; and

● Adopting a greater focus on recovering debt from defaulters rather than targeting those who are paying their bills, who have in effect become ‘soft targets’.

Residents have until tomorrow, 14 January, to comment on the proposed increases.

Have your say HERE.