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Displaying the 30 latest comments.
Submitted | first-name | support | concern | top-concern | message |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026-09-15 14:09:15 +02:00 | Ursula | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | In the first instance, with prolonged loadshedding, consumers had no alternative but to find alternative power supplies. These alternative power supplies were, and are, expensive. They simply substituted the supplier and did / do not reduce the overall cost of power provision. While fewer Eskom units may be used, the solar plant (inverter, batteries, panels etc.) Costs the end user. It is not free. If amortized over it's useful life, it remains a cost to the consumer. Worse still, when Eskom was failing to meet a reduced demand, & remained unreliable, consumers were encouraged by tax incentives on solar panels to relieve the pressure on Eskom. Now they bite back? Many businesses might have failed without alternative power supply. Solar power is NOT free!! There is a significant cost to installing the necessary equipment and it does not last forever. It requires maintenance and replacement components at the customers cost, not Eskom's. | |
2026-09-15 14:05:58 +02:00 | Colin | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | First, we were punished with loadshedding which damaged businesses and jobs. It literally put our lives at risk with failing security systems, lack of road lighting and non-functioning traffic lights. It also affected those with medical needs, so we spent inordinate amounts of money to balance these scales, first with generators and then with various renewable energy solutions, which, ironically, were subsidized by Eskom in the early days. Our failing electricity infrastructure is through no fault of the consumer, but a combination of the failures of ESKOM through lack of foresight, planning and corruption as well as SAPS' inability to maintain law and order in preventing infrastructure theft - also due mostly to corruption within their ranks. So the entire failure sits within the government structures, not within the general populice. There was always enough money for ESKOM, but it has been looted and exacerbated by their absolute inability to collect their outstanding revenues, so now, the compliant society is punished again with added charges, instead of targeting their own corrupt underbelly and non-compliant users? EKOM has just posted a R30,3 BILLION profit, which just highlights my point above. There is sufficient money, if it is not looted first. Focus on stabilizing the supply, collecting your revenue and targeting your looters and then no adjustments are necessary. |
2026-09-15 14:04:40 +02:00 | Shirley | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | ||
2026-09-15 13:59:59 +02:00 | André | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | ||
2026-09-15 13:58:38 +02:00 | Hannes | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | 1. Stop the "Sun Tax": Do not penalise private capital and solar investments with punitive fixed grid fees. 2. Protect Captive Consumers: Bar municipalities from hiking tariffs on non-solar homes to cover lost revenue from industrial and off-grid defection. 3. Transparency First: Ensure wholesale market reforms do not leave everyday households footing the bill for grid infrastructure. Please stop stealing more from the hard-working citizens of this country. We can barely make it through a month, but still you want to take more. | |
2026-09-15 13:57:51 +02:00 | Julius | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | Stop the "Sun Tax": Do not penalise private capital and solar investments with punitive fixed grid fees. Protect Captive Consumers: Bar municipalities from hiking tariffs on non-solar homes to cover lost revenue from industrial and off-grid defection. Transparency First: Ensure wholesale market reforms do not leave everyday households footing the bill for grid infrastructure. |
2026-09-15 13:55:03 +02:00 | Rita | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:55:02 +02:00 | Dirk | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | Eskom's inability to provide power forced consumers to invest in alternatives. Now we are being punished for investing in our own properties. Their incompetence should not be rewarded. |
2026-09-15 13:51:46 +02:00 | Andy | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:51:21 +02:00 | David | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | With respect to The ANC-controlled Eskom Electricity Sector Market Transformation Position Paper, I must politely object to the proposed legislation: it looks less like a fair tariff and more like a bait-and-switch, where one escapes the grid only to find Eskom still billing you for a relationship you’ve ended. It like charging rent for a house you no longer live in, or a “fresh air levy” for opening a window; if the goal is to encourage self-reliance and clean energy, penalising people for not buying your product is a curious way to say “please stay,” and it risks making Eskom’s name synonymous with paying for nothing - which during load-shedding was somewhat ironic. | |
2026-09-15 13:46:37 +02:00 | Michael | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | ||
2026-09-15 13:43:55 +02:00 | Yvonne | I support with amendments | All of the above | Captive Consumer Tariff Protection | Sun tax, should be an incentive - not a punishment. Eskom just seem to be incompetent at arriving at creative forward thinking solutions. |
2026-09-15 13:42:14 +02:00 | Noah | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | In a country where we have so much wind and sun to use in the generation of power, there is no excuse for Eskom or the government to continue punishing consumers for installing solar by finding other ways to make them pay for a service they can't adequately provide. What needs fixing is the corruption and mismanagement. Neither of these problems is the consumer's fault so I don't see why we should have to pay the penalties for these failures. |
2026-09-15 13:39:44 +02:00 | Linda | No I do not | All of the above | Market Power & Price Manipulation | |
2026-09-15 13:37:06 +02:00 | Johan | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:35:38 +02:00 | Ivana | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:32:52 +02:00 | Denise | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:31:35 +02:00 | Tim | No I do not | All of the above | Municipal Financial Collapse | This proposed amendment would be yet another weight holding the RSA economy back |
2026-09-15 13:31:10 +02:00 | Kevin | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:29:53 +02:00 | Erik | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | Eskom created the problem, don't let the consumer pay for it | |
2026-09-15 13:29:10 +02:00 | Ronel | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | 1. Stop the "Sun Tax": Do not penalise private capital and solar investments with punitive fixed grid fees. 2. Protect Captive Consumers: Bar municipalities from hiking tariffs on non-solar homes to cover lost revenue from industrial and off-grid defection. 3. Transparency First: Ensure wholesale market reforms do not leave everyday households footing the bill for grid infrastructure. Please stop stealing more from the hard-working citizens of this country. We can barely make it through a month, but still you want to take more. |
2026-09-15 13:27:54 +02:00 | Neels | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | ||
2026-09-15 13:20:06 +02:00 | Peter | No I do not | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | |
2026-09-15 13:12:37 +02:00 | Stephan | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | ||
2026-09-15 13:11:54 +02:00 | Abraham | No I do not | All of the above | Captive Consumer Tariff Protection | The end consumer get always taxed the heaviest as there is no further way down to collect money. Industry always get the largest benefit because they are the so called providers. They do not pass the benefits they receive to their customers because their mission is to maximize profit. To Eskom: Why can you not live and let live. Find better ways and manage more efficiently. |
2026-09-15 13:11:15 +02:00 | Christie | No I do not | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | The middle and upper middle class pays for everything. We cannot pay more / higher fixed charges than we already do. It is a large investment to install solar, especially for a small business. You only recoup the money invested over 15+ years. If charges are added, middleclass people and small businesses will not be able to afford & install solar. | |
2026-09-15 13:10:50 +02:00 | Gail | No I do not | All of the above | Market Power & Price Manipulation | Eskom and government should be taken to court and FINED for failing the people of South Africa. We ALL SUFFERED because of their poor decisions when told about not having enough capacity to supply electricity to the country yet THEY DID NOT CARE about the PEOPLE and Businesses of this country, and we LOST very productive companies and people because of GOVERNMENT and Eskom. Then ESKOM asked the PEOPLE of South Africa to help them and put in Solar, and we would be paid back certain amounts. So, Eskom and Government MUST Answer to that in Court. |
2026-09-15 13:10:45 +02:00 | Lawrence | I support with amendments | All of the above | Fixed Charges & Solar Penalties | I Support: Market competition, Eskom unbundling, and open wholesale trading are essential to solve South Africa’s energy crisis and attract private capital. I Object to: Mandatory fixed solar charges, captive consumer price hikes, and municipal revenue losses will hurt ordinary households and small businesses. I Support the following with Amendments: Wholesale market reform should proceed only if strict caps are placed on fixed network fees, captive ratepayers are protected, and municipal cross-subsidies are safeguarded. |
2026-09-15 13:09:02 +02:00 | Cornelius Johannes | No I do not | All of the above | Market Power & Price Manipulation | |
2026-09-15 13:02:06 +02:00 | Karen | No I do not | All of the above | Market Power & Price Manipulation | Corruption and theft |
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- Ending Monopolies and Unlocking Private Investment:
Decades of Eskom’s single-buyer monopoly led to catastrophic load shedding, debt bailouts, and stifled innovation. Establishing the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) allows private generators, renewable energy developers, and traders to compete directly, deploying private capital to build generation capacity without burdening national taxpayers. - Transparent Price Discovery and Long-Term Cost Reductions:
Open day-ahead and intra-day wholesale trading forces generators to bid at competitive, marginal costs. Over time, this market mechanism removes operational inefficiencies, penalises unreliable power stations, and drives down the baseline wholesale cost of electricity for the entire economy. - Fair System Cost Allocation (“Anti-Free Riding”):
The physical grid requires billions of Rands in fixed maintenance costs regardless of how much energy is consumed. Supporters argue that grid-tied rooftop solar owners still rely on the national grid for nighttime power and system stability. Shifting toward mandatory fixed capacity charges ensures that network costs are fairly shared across all connected users, rather than being disproportionately subsidised by poorer households without solar systems. - Level Playing Field via Network Unbundling:
Legally unbundling the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) and forcing distribution companies to separate physical “wires” from electricity trading ensures non-discriminatory grid access for everyone. Independent power producers will finally compete on equal terms with Eskom Generation. - Professionalising Municipal Electricity Accounts:
Forcing municipalities to separate their retail trading businesses from network maintenance creates transparent accounting, prevents councils from diverting grid maintenance funds to cover unrelated administrative shortfalls, and establishes cost-reflective pricing models.
- Ending Monopolies and Unlocking Private Investment:
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- A “Sun Tax” on Private Capital and Rooftop Solar:
Millions of households and businesses invested private savings into rooftop solar and batteries to keep their lights on when the state failed to do so. Replacing consumption-based billing with mandatory, high fixed monthly network charges penalises energy-conscious citizens, extends solar payback periods, and discourages private decarbonisation. - The “Captive Ratepayer Trap” and Municipal Insolvency:
Large industrial and commercial users exceeding demand thresholds (e.g., 1 MW) will be allowed to exit municipal supply to buy cheaper wholesale or private power. This strips municipalities of high-margin corporate revenue used to cross-subsidise indigent households and basic services, leaving captive residential ratepayers to shoulder skyrocketing local tariffs and degraded grid maintenance. - Wholesale Price Volatility and Market Power Manipulation:
Eskom Generation still controls the overwhelming majority of South Africa’s dispatchable baseload power. In unbundled spot markets worldwide, dominant suppliers have engaged in economic or physical withholding to artificially spike market clearing prices. Without hard statutory bid caps and aggressive oversight, wholesale price volatility will be passed directly down to retail consumers. - Severe Conflicts of Interest Within the NTCSA:
Consolidating transmission grid ownership (TNSP), system dispatch (SO), market clearing (MO), and legacy state off-take contracts (CPA) within a single entity under Eskom Holdings creates structural conflicts of interest. NTCSA could face internal commercial pressure to favour Eskom assets or delay third-party grid connections. - Premature Market Launch Amid Unresolved Municipal Debt:
Opening an advanced wholesale market with mandatory imbalance penalties in 2026/2027 while municipal distribution debt to Eskom remains unresolved is premature. Financially distressed municipalities that fail prudential credit requirements will be excluded from trading platforms, creating a divided nation of well-supplied metros and failing, power-starved rural councils.
- A “Sun Tax” on Private Capital and Rooftop Solar: