Cape Town - The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill, which is undergoing a nationwide public consultation process, remained out of reach to residents, the portfolio committee on mineral resources and energy heard on Monday.
The committee conducted a public hearing at the Johnson Ngwevela Hall in Langa after recent hearings in Citrusdal and Hermanus.
A participant from Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay said residents needed to be educated on the bill before they could effectively participate. Her views were echoed by others.
“We want to know the contents of the bill and be educated on it, the jargon used in the bill is technical,” the resident said.
Residents used the platform to instead highlight their issues with electricity provision in townships and the dangers of illegal connections.
“One of the issues that is not clear in the bill, is what occurs when an informal settlement is built, and who has the jurisdiction to give that settlement electricity? Is it the province or City? Will the bill speak to that?” another resident wanted to know.
Committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo said among the key objectives of the bill was to give way to an open market in electricity provision; and give authority to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) as the main enforcement agency of transmission and distribution, and to oversee the entire licensing chain.
He said a person who wished to generate their own electricity need not apply for a licence, but register with Nersa.
Responding to residents’ concerns over not understanding the bill, committee member Mikateko Mahlaule set out to explaing, saying: “The unbundling says to you that 70% of electricity comes from coal and there must be other sources of energy.
“There must be competition with Eskom.
“Eskom today is not giving you electricity because it does not have capacity. It must give you help from other sources, who must compete with Eskom.
“We are saying Nersa must put a tariff that must be paid, if you want to participate in selling electricity, and sell it for R2, that is your business.
“If someone else wants to sell for R10, that is their business.
“Competition always helps.
“Those speaking on cable theft, there is a clause in the bill that makes it an offence – (offenders) will be liable to a fine of R1 million, or imprisonment not exceeding five years,” Mahlaule said.
Luzipo agreed that improvements were needed in the way information was disseminated, and it will be looked into.
The public consultations will next move to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.