The latest threat from Eskom relates to South Africa’s largest economic hub, the City of Johannesburg. Eskom published a notice on Thursday to warn electricity supply to Johannesburg would be disrupted because City Power owed it R4.9 billion in historic debt and R1.4 billion in its current account.
After intervention from Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Eskom retracted the threat provided that the city pays the current bill of R1,4bn. "The issue has been made plain. We need an independent person to evaluate what Eskom is asking versus what the city believes it owes," Ramokgopa said. This is happening at a time when demand for electricity is on the decline. See the graph below as per the University of Stellenbosch.
1. EMFSA, a Cape Town-based company sets the background for citizen's constitutional rights to water and electricity. “Before the adoption of the Constitution, the courts treated access to electricity as a common law right in the context of servitudes and personal and contractual rights. Under the Constitution, the right to access electricity flows from the constitutional and statutory obligations of Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, to provide reliable electricity supply and to ensure just administrative action when taking actions that result in the deprivation of electricity.
From a Bill of Rights perspective, the cases show that the right to electricity, albeit not expressed in the text of the Constitution, is a condition for the exercise of other rights, including the rights to human dignity and access to adequate housing, water, and health care.” They conclude that the deprivation of electricity through load shedding and other interruptions by Eskom, landlords, and body corporates are violations of the right to access to electricity.
Private companies and households have installed more solar capacity – 5,400 MW – in South Africa than Eskom’s two largest power stations, Medupi and Kusile, which have a capacity of 4,800 MW each. “Eskom’s sales volumes are declining by an average 2.5% year-on-year,” Koko said. “If it continues to decline, there will be no Eskom in 10 years.” During Koko’s tenure at Eskom, the company generated roughly R1 billion in revenue from electricity sales in a week. It has declined to R800 million today. That leaves Eskom R10,4 billion rand short per annum. It cannot be that either Eskom or the government expects the consumer to pay. The consumer simply does not have money either.,
2. Eskom may think it wise to threaten consumers, but it would be foolish to assume they will find money to pay. Consumers are cash-strapped and under financial duress. The reaction to threats will only convince more consumers to get off the grid. Once a person is off the grid, they will no longer attempt to repay loans. Consumers are not stupid; they are aware that the Municipalities are accusing Eskom of overcharges.
They also know in addition that they themselves have been overcharged in turn by the municipalities. They are aware of the millions/billions lost to inefficiencies and corruption and are not prepared to pay for that. The Government debt relief extended to municipalities does not extend to the consumers. This principle does not reflect a fair dispensation.
No solution will be possible as long as there are double standards. The right of access to sufficient water is accorded to everyone in s 27(1)(b) of the Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient water. Section 27(2) requires the State to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of the right.
3. South Africa is considered a water-scarce country. “Water scarcity” refers to the volumetric abundance, or non-abundance, of water supply. It is expressed as the ratio of human water consumption to available water supply in each area. It is a physical reality that can be measured consistently across regions and over time. Water scarcity is driven by two factors (i) physical (physical or absolute water scarcity) or economic (economic water scarcity) South Africa is a water-scarce country and ranks as one of the 30 driest countries in the world with an average rainfall of about 40% less than the annual world average rainfall. South Africa has an average annual rainfall of less than 500 mm, while that of the world is about 850 mm.
Economic water scarcity is by far the most disturbing form of water scarcity because it is almost entirely a lack of compassion and good governance that allows the condition to persist. Economic water scarcity exists when a population does not have the necessary monetary means to utilise an adequate source of water. Economic water scarcity or social water scarcity (second-order water scarcity) is caused by a lack of investment in water or a lack of human capacity to satisfy the water demand, even in places where water is abundant. It is induced by political power, policies, and/or socioeconomic relations. Symptoms include inadequate infrastructure development.
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s 2023 No Drop report found that water losses in Johannesburg were 35%, well above the global average of 15%, while the average consumption of water in Gauteng is 279 litres a person a day, 60% above the world average.
4. According to The waterproject.org, globally, one in nine people still have no access to clean water. But in the communities, they serve, it's nine out of nine. Water is a daily and crippling challenge. Without water you can't grow food, you can't build housing, you can't stay healthy, you can't stay in school, and you can't keep working.
It is a sobering thought to read: “Children often bear the burden of walking miles each day to find water in streams and ponds, full of water-borne disease that is making them and their families sick and this illness and the time lost fetching it robs entire communities of their futures.” In a petition organised by #No DryTaps Gauteng, there are 2,5 billion litres of water is lost daily in Gauteng through leaks and poor infrastructure. Residents do demand accountability. Those responsible for the neglect and disrepair must be held to account. The citizens need to receive transparent communication as to why our water infrastructure is in the present situation. The citizens demand immediate action.
5. It is easy to criticise the government and the specific departments involved. But we as a nation must ask ourselves if should we rather spend money on free tertiary education than on providing fresh water. We must make tough choices. Even a marginal wealth tax that serves this specific problem will not have moral objections. We must stop corruption and leakages from not only water resources but leaks from our financial appropriations to all departments.
We must take a leaf from Trump. Trump appointed the best entrepreneur, our home bred, Elon Musk to help the government with government efficiency. Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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