By Wendy Jasson da Costa
Homes and businesses using more than their quota of electricity are soon to be penalised.
The government calls it a "differentiated tariff structure", which means that once you use more than a certain amount of power, the rate at which you are charged automatically increases.
The announcement by government spokesperson Themba Maseko followed a Cabinet meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday at which the country's power crisis was discussed.
President Thabo Mbeki is expected to comment on the power crisis in his State of the Nation speech on Friday.
Maseko said the proposed tariff increase was included in new regulations drafted by the department of minerals and energy.
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The Cabinet believed that while the country had the capacity to generate electricity, achieving the required reserve margin of between 8 percent and 10 percent was a challenge, making load-shedding necessary.
Maseko repeated the government's appeal to businesses and individual households to support the electricity-saving campaign by reducing consumption by 10 percent.
It would also intensify its interaction with major stakeholders to ensure they took part in the national effort to reduce electricity demand.
The Cabinet thanked everyone, especially mines, for their co-operation in helping to manage the "national emergency".
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) warned, however, that the economic effects of the electricity crisis could deepen if the government and Eskom failed to ensure the promise was kept that mines would get 90 percent of their electricity supply.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the power supply to the mines had been fluctuating between 80 percent and 90 percent this week, making it difficult for them to plan.
This had also affected safety, productivity and job security, while mining equipment had been damaged and thousands of jobs were on the line.
Seshoka said the energy crisis could see the number of job losses at Harmony Gold surge to more than 5 000.
He said AngloGold had expressed concern about the fluctuating electricity supply and had warned that although it did not want jobs to be lost, the power crisis could see 5 000 mineworkers being laid off.
"We don't want a situation where companies are opportunistic and use load-shedding as an excuse to get rid of staff," Seshoka said.
Yesterday, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) warned there was a "very real" risk that the country could face an economic recession because of the electricity crisis.
"We have been going through an economic slowdown and (the electricity crisis) could push us into a recession," Sacci economist Richard Downing said.
Annual economic growth could slow down to as little as 1 percent or 2 percent, he said.
A recent survey found the power crisis was expected to lead to job losses in the clothing sector, higher costs and a jump in imports as manufacturers struggled to meet orders.
Insurance policyholders should check the fine print to see whether they are covered for losses inflicted by load-shedding, Sapa reports.
"We encourage policyholders to contact their insurance brokers if they are unclear about their cover," said Caroline da Silva, head of portfolio management at Santam.
She said alarm systems that did not go off in a burglary because of a power failure would not affect a claim, as long as the system was in working order before the failure.
- This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Times on February 07, 2008
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