Van der Rheede shared in an interview with eNCA that the increase in the electricity tariff, which was announced by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), is unfair towards paying South Africans.

He explained that farmers have been bearing the brunt of high input costs for necessities such as fuel, fertiliser and shipping costs, amongst others.

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“What we need to confront the government with, is that it is one thing to require consumers to pay these additional increases, but what about the debt of consumers in places such as Soweto, your municipalities? That debt currently sits at R60 billion and if Eskom can get hold of those consumers and force them to pay, it will bring great relief to all of us.

“I think it is so unfair that it is expected of businesses to fork out the money all the time, whilst other people just don’t care. At the end of the day, all of us are suffering as a result of this.”

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Van der Rheede added that small and medium-scale farmers are already in debt, with there also being an increase in the cost of capital over time as interest rates go up. He is concerned about how these farmers will survive as commercial farmers are also struggling financially.

“What I need to emphasise is… one farmer told me that he’s got five of those big generators. For each generator, he had to fork out almost R300 000 for diesel just for December alone. That’s an additional cost of R1.5 million that those farmers have to fork out, and your small-scale farmers simply don’t have the money.”

Agri Northern Cape also shared its concerns with the tariff increase. In a statement, the organisation highlighted Nersa’s announcement that it granted Eskom an 18.65% tariff increase for the year 2023/24, along with a 12.7% in 2024/25, is not the answer to the power utility’s challenges.

“This increase granted by Nersa is insane! The Reserve Bank increased the repo interest rate repeatedly to bring inflation within the 4% to 6% band, [weakening] the economy drastically.

“[These] efforts are made undone by Nersa granting electricity increases by more than double the current high inflation rate. Electricity costs is a main driver of inflation due to [it being] widely used as backbone of the economy,” shares the organisation’s president, Nicol Jansen.

The organisation has advised its members in the province to seek alternative electricity sources to keep their operations going. Agri Northern Cape says members should embrace technology and renewable energy solutions that make sense financially, “and can contribute to food security within the free-market economy space”.

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