The Tygerberg Business Chamber last week praised Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis for renewed efforts to end the loadshedding crisis in the city to become the first loadshedding-free municipality in South Africa.
Geordin Hill-Lewis last Tuesday announced that the City of Cape Town is to procure power from independent power producers.
In the next two weeks, the City will publish documents detailing its upcoming procurement of power from independent power producers (IPPs).
This will include the announcement of tenders for the purchase of electricity from IPPs and timelines for bringing IPP-generated electricity onto the City’s supply network.
“It has now become clear to the City that it has to take matters into its own hands if the damage caused by Eskom’s monopoly over electricity is to be halted.
“The only way for us to provide reliable and affordable electricity to our residents is to source it from elsewhere,” the mayor said in a statement to the media.
“Loadshedding comes at a significant cost for South Africans. Loadshedding means real businesses failing. Loadshedding means jobs being lost. Loadshedding makes the possibility of meaningful economic recovery ever more remote.”
Furthermore, Eskom is pressing ahead with an application to Nersa to hike the price of electricity by 20,5% from 1 April, despite Hill-Lewis’ recent plea to Eskom to not do this.
“I have made it clear to Eskom and to Nersa that this planned increase is unfair, unjust, and unaffordable.”
Over 30 000 Capetonians signed a petition over the course of one weekend, asking Nersa to disallow the increase.
“Bringing IPPs onto the grid, through the tendering process, is a crucial step in ending loadshedding over time,” Hill-Lewis says.
“The economic effects of a reliable power supply in Cape Town will mean more profitable businesses and more job opportunities from which every Capetonian will benefit.”
He hopes that other spheres of government will respect the City’s constitutional mandate to deliver electricity to its residents.
Tygerberg Business Chamber is waiting to see the detailed document regarding upcoming procurement of power from independent power producers.
“We support the City’s initiative to take control of this electricity problem to ensure continuous and affordable electricity to all businesses and individuals,” says Sunel Beeselaar, chair of the Tygerberg Business Chamber.
“We support the City in their endeavours in this regard and we welcome the possibility of the first load-shedding-free municipality in South Africa.”
