Godsell pleads Eskom's case

Johannesburg - Chairperson of Eskom, Bobby Godsell, said on Friday he was in the process of briefing government on the proposed 45%-66% increases in electricity tariffs over three years, but could not say if they would support it.

Speaking at the Steel and Engineering Industrial Federation of SA presidential breakfast at the Johannesburg Country Club, he said Eskom had delivered a 93-page document to government and government would make its views clear on the matter.

He said further meetings were planned for the weekend, but emphasised throughout his speech that the current tariff structure would not support South Africa's growth needs going forward, nor would it entice investors to open their chequebooks.

He strongly recommended SA start looking at alternative sources of power, especially nuclear and solar, with the private sector taking ownership.

He also called for 30% of local generation being private, but said this had not been possible due to the fact that electricity in South Africa was sold at a half to two-thirds of cost.

He noted the high costs of reliance on coal, with Eskom's future plans requiring 16 new coalmines.

Godsell said that the first phase of Eskom's build programme was on track and that 18&nbps;000 megawatts was planned to be added to current production of just 40 000MW. But he also highlighted the gargantuan nature of the R385bn capex programme, being four times the size of Gautrain and six times the expenditure on 2010.

While acknowledging he did not have the most popular job in the country, he said it was time to focus on the hard realities, make tough choices and stop all the "Eskom bashing", which would not achieve anything.

He noted that Eskom was not turning off people's power at the moment - if that had been done after May, it was by City Power.

- I-Net Bridge