The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy yesterday concluded the Mpumalanga leg of public hearings on the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill.

Mpumalanga is the second province to host these public hearings, which started in Limpopo province last week. The committee hopes to cover the remaining provinces before the end of the year.

Yesterday’s public hearings were held at Kwaggafontein Community Hall in Thembisile Hani,which falls under the Nkangala District Municipality, where the Bill received overwhelming support from members of the public. They also had some additional submissions they would like the portfolio committee to consider when deliberating on the Bill at end of the public consultation process.

They told the committee that Parliament must ensure oversight over the tariffs the new companies will charge when they compete with Eskom, to avoid possible collusion, and that the new reforms must not affect jobs at Eskom.

Others attending the public hearings, meanwhile, felt that
there was no need for new companies to compete with Eskom. All that is needed is proper maintenance and servicing of power stations.

The Bill aims to effect changes to the Electricity Regulation Act in order to provide for additional electricity generation capacity and infrastructure, as well as the establishment of the Transmission System Operator SOC Ltd.

The draft legislation also seeks an open market platform that will allow for competitive electricity trading; and to assign the duties, powers and functions of the Transmission System Operator SOC Ltd to the National Transmission Company South Africa SOC Ltd.

Source: Parliament of South Africa