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Eskom is pushing South Africans to despair. The combination of electricity price increases, of which the latest of 3.49% for 2022/2023 came into effect on 1 July, and diminished service delivery has brought the nation to the point of hopelessness.

Basic service delivery, paid for by our hard-earned taxes, has turned into a money-guzzling rip-off as workers are forced to pay more for less.

Workers rely on electricity for day-to-day life but find themselves paying more for services that are increasingly unavailable, negatively impacting their lives at work and at home. The never-ending load-shedding has turned families’ routines upside down as normal household routines have gone out the window. Children struggle to complete homework and study while, many who try to supplement their earnings in these times of merciless price increases, find themselves hog-tied. Businesses and private citizens who can afford R150 000 and more look to alternative power sources to keep the lights on and lives afloat.

All this because state-owned entity Eskom has not properly carried out its mandate for decades. 2008 saw the 1st episode of load-shedding in South Africa brought about by a lack of maintenance, corruption, and theft. Last week saw the longest and most severe load shedding ever. Where will this end and how many more jobs will we see disappear because of this?

South Africans also have to contend with higher interest rates and crippling fuel prices which have a negative effect on the price of basic food items on which low-income households rely for survival. For the lower-income groups, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Households are losing the battle and are sliding deeper into debt or seem shackled to poverty.

With the fuel price set to increase on Wednesday and other municipal rates also on the way up UASA encourages its members and all consumers to relook their household expenses so that they can stay afloat. UASA again urges government to act to prevent imminent economic collapse.

Issued by UASA Spokesperson Abigail Moyo