Eskom is probably the most incompetent company in South Africa. There will be no need for an increase if everybody on the Eskom network is billed. I personally know of somebody who has been using electricity free of charge of the past five years. If this person got billed, it should be in excess of R500,000. This is only one person I know off and am waiting for Eskom's forensic department to contact me. What about all the others doing the same. Surely if Eskom offers rewards for this information, they could generate in surplus of what they need to generate electricity and probably at a lower cost to the consumer.

This is a hike over and above the current approved level,why must consumers be the scapegoats for failures that they are not responsible for? This must be subject for alive debate in parliament!!!

Eskom's costs are increasing at a rate greater than inflation. Ergo their tariffs need to increase at a rate of greater than inflation. Preventing Eskom from increasing their tariffs will only add more pain in the long run. We need to bite the bullet and accept this. The reason rate hikes are supposed to quell inflationary pressures is that they discourage people from borrowing money to buy stuff they don't need. If anything, I would expect an Eskom increase to have a similar effect. After all it is taking money out of people's pockets meaning they have less to spend, and forcing those selling goods to keep prices low (competitive). So surely a big price increase from Eskom could negate the need for a rates increase? Just a thought...

You are hitting the nail right on the head! Fiscal and monetary stance is working in opposite directions. That never works and only increases the problems.

With this high interest, south africans should prepare themselves for the coming of jesus christ.ask your self, why is this happening?.

I am afraid that the majority of commentators are aiming their guns at the wrong man! Tito get his mandate from the government. This same government allows their administered prices (rates, water, electricity, gov wages, etc) to increase year after by significantly more than their inflation target. Eskom can, similar to other parastaltals & 2010 programme, get immediate capex help from the gov for later recovery from taxpayers over a longer period than the build period. Direct borrowing by Eskom will incur a much higher cost for the entire economy. Gov is happy to finance excess stadia for 2010 world cup instead of powerstations. Imagine that!!

A single-notch downgrade by the international rating agencies of Eskom's credit worthiness could add between R3-million and R4-million to the cost of each R1-billion borrowed on the capital markets. Asked by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) panel member Dr Rod Crompton to quantify the cost of a possible downgrade (see video), Nqwababa said it was impossible to offer precise figures, but that it could add as much as "R4-billion over time" to the cost of its current build programme(of 5 years). Eskom's 20 year expansion program will cost over a trillion Rand so a drop in ratings for Eskom will be bad for us all.

This just shows you how much old Tito knows about finances. His a twit. How can he say 6% when our current inflation rate is over 10%. The reason Eskom wants such a large once off increase is because of under inflation increases over the last 14 years. Eskom will be borrowing most of the cash for the expansion from overseas banks the interest rate at which they lend money to Eskom is influenced by Eskoms financial rating. "All three of the rating agencies that track Eskom - Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch - had placed Eskom on notice over recent months" If they don't get the increase Eskoms financial rating will be lowered resulting in higher borrowing cost which will put more pressure on Eskom already struggling with the massive cost increase of primary fuel. Money lost due to primary fuel cost is the main reason for the major increase and not the current expansion. True inflation adjustments from now on will need to be made each year to keep Eskom on track.