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Have your say on the draft Bill and the draft Policy

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Draft Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill

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Schedule 2 (exemptions)

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Draft Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP)

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Notice

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The Electricty Regulation Amendment Bill proposes amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act, 2007 (Act 28 of 2007). The proposed amendments broaden the national regulatory framework for the electricity supply industry.

They align the country with the international best practice in energy and provide for the functions of a Transmission System Operator, and for a licensing framework for power generation, transmission, distribution and trading.

The proposed amendments form part of several steps the country is taking to reform the electricity sector towards achieving a stable and secure supply of energy. They will also strengthen the performance of the electricity industry and ultimately create a conducive environment towards growing the economy.

  • To establish a national regulatory framework for the electricity supply industry;
  • to make the National Energy Regulator of South Africa the custodian and enforcer of the national electricity regulatory framework;
  • to provide for licences and registration as the manner in which generation, transmission, distribution, system operation, reticulation, trading and the import and export of electricity are regulated;
  • to provide for the establishment of the Transmission System Operator,
  • to provide a competitive multi market structure for the electricity industry,
  • to regulate the reticulation of electricity by municipalities;
  • and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Need for EPP and Related Policies

There is an urgent need not only for an EPP, but also for a new electricity (or energy) policy. The requirement to unbundling of Eskom, with this being a precursor to an independent system operator and the development of energy market, the electricity pricing environment is changing.

The EPP should provide direction and principles for the formulation of electricity prices in South Africa.

The EPP should also reflect the most recent policies and legislation. The EPP should not be too detailed and should indicate broad level direction. It should also define the accountabilities/responsibilities; focus on the required outcomes and the timing aspects of the outcomes.

IN THE MEDIA

STATEMENTS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS

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Cape Independence Advocacy Group

Dear Speaker,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) and the seventy thousand South Africans who actively follow our work.

We wish to comment on the ‘Electoral Commissions Amendment Act, 2021’, which is proposed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and was published in the Government Gazette on 21 June 2021.

Given our mandate, our comments are made in the context of the Western Cape, although we appreciate and respect that the constitutional rights enacted through this bill will rightfully apply to all provinces.

This bill is essential to restoring some degree of functional democracy to the voters of the Western Cape and we therefore unreservedly and wholeheartedly endorse it.

Through their voting behaviour, Western Cape voters have made it abundantly clear that they do not endorse many of the policy and ideological positions of the South African national government, but are left utterly powerless to resist them because the voters in other South African provinces, who greatly outnumber them, hold starkly different ideological and political opinions.

In terms of seeing their democratic will enacted, for the majority of Western Cape voters, the democratic era has not offered much of an improvement over the apartheid era. It is a statistical fact that, since 1994, the majority of Western Cape voters have never been governed by the political party they voted for, and they have no foreseeable prospect of ever being governed by the party they vote for. As such, they cannot be said to have functional democracy.

One of the few glimmers of democratic hope Western Cape voters do have, is the provision of Clause 127(2)(f) of the national constitution, and 37(2)(f) of the Western Cape constitution, which allows them, at the discretion of the premier who they elected, to have their voices heard on matters which are important to them, without being drowned out by a national majority who fundamentally hold different views.

To deny Western Cape voters this constitutional right would be a very serious infringement of their political rights and freedoms, and would be a clear indication that parliament and the national government are not interested in the constitutional rights and democratic wishes of Western Cape voters.

We therefore call upon parliament to pass this bill at the earliest opportunity, and without objection.

Yours Faithfully

Phil Craig
(On behalf of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group)