CONSUMERS SPEAK AT PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED TARIFFS: CHARGE ROYAL RESIDENCES FOR ELECTRICITY

MANZINI – Some consumers in the country are of the view that royal residences are entitled to free electricity.

However, the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) refutes the allegations that royal residences do not pay for the electricity they utilise. James Mabundza, General Manager Customer Services, explained that royalty is charged like all clients. Mabundza said royal residences, therefore, honour their bills and pay. He said EEC employees also pay for the electricity they use.  At a public hearing convened by the Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) yesterday to discuss the proposed EEC’s tariffs.

Before Mabundza responded to the questions, the consumers had said there is a royal department styled Eswatini National Treasury, which is responsible for the upkeep of the State houses. They said EEC should send electricity bills to this department so that all royal residences can also be part of the paying community. “The elderly and the unemployed are paying for their own electricity. Government allocates sums of money towards the upkeep of royal residences. What happens to that money? Why should it not be used to pay for electricity,” said one consumer. They made some claims that some businesses owned by royalty should not be exempted from paying electricity tariffs.

Billed

“We will no longer be able to pay electricity for royal residences.  We know they are not being billed and we request that they pay for their electricity usage. Also, royalty owns a lot of businesses and they should be billed for their electricity usage,” said Sihle Ndwandwe, a consumer who is also the youth president of the Swazis First Democratic Front political party.
She also said EEC should stop paying unbudgeted funds towards national events. They also called upon EEC staff, mainly the executives, to also pay for the electricity that they use. They alleged that EEC executives also enjoyed free electricity. They submitted to ESERA that this should come to an end.

The meeting was convened in terms of the Energy Regulatory Act of 2007 (Act No.2 of 2007). It was held at The George Hotel in Manzini. The consumers also called for an end to what they perceived as a monopoly for EEC, a government company. They then rejected the request by EEC to increase electricity tariffs. Their reason is that they do not afford the increase.
All but one speaker rejected EEC’s request to increase electricity tariffs. Some speakers took the matter a step further, accusing EEC employees of abusing company property.
They made allegations that some EEC employees used company vehicles to transport their children to school. There was also an allegation that certain employees operated companies that are subcontracted to EEC to supply services at huge cost.

Reduction

They also called for reduction of salaries for executives. The consumers said EEC should request government to offer solutions to its challenges. They pointed out that government should settle its E50 million electricity bill. “The money that EEC wants to raise is equivalent to VAT collections made by government in a period spanning 12 months. “We cannot afford this because it is an additional cost to us, it is not practical and we can’t barely afford it,” said one of the consumers.“This means that the request should be rejected outright because people can barely afford to meet their daily needs. EEC problems can never be resolved with an increase of tariffs.”This speaker identifies himself as a businessman.

Consumers came from all walks of life, from the youth to the elderly and business community. The highly-charged meeting was also dominated by speakers from civil societies, unions and political parties.Notable, attendees were members of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO)  and the Swazis First Democratic Front. However, there were certain individuals clad in People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) T-shirts, but they did not make submissions during the meeting. The meeting nearly turned chaotic as many speakers demanded more accountability from EEC executives on how they managed the entity in terms of managing legacy profits and planning for the future of the entity by putting up their own power generation plants.

Sufficient

One burning issue was why the company is still failing to generate sufficient electricity on its own, as opposed to spending billions of Emalangeni on imports. Another consumer revealed that she was a guest, at some point, in a residence owned by an employee of EEC. “I visited a house of one EEC employee, a week after arriving in the residence, electricity units never moved from the three units I found when I came in. This proved that electricity was being abused by the employee and it must be stopped,” she said. Khethukuthula Methula said it was shocking that government expected poor emaSwati to foot its bills with EEC. “That they are failing to pay a bill of E50 million is shocking. Why can’t EEC switch off the power because clearly government is irresponsible,” he said. He also said EEC should request government to budget for new power stations.

Meanwhile, EEC was also asked to address inefficiencies in the company that impeded its future sustainability and development. They said it is shocking that the company is looking for funds to import over 50 per cent of the electricity from neighbouring countries. “We are not told how the company will implement future power generation initiatives than fixing the existing stations that produce meagre electricity.”Jabulani Khumalo, a sugar cane farmer, said famers suffer the most due to expensive tariffs. He said he spent over E500 000 on electricity and that farmers can barely keep afloat with the increasing cost.Another speaker asked EEC to review its request submitted to ESERA.

“They use data which they admit was not accurate, in that they say they need the increase to meet the projected increase from ESKOM, which they admitted in their request that the projected increase of fees from ESKOM have recently been revised downwards,” said a consumer who identified himself as Mabuza. Fundizwi Sikhondze of Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) said EEC should be allowed to continue supplying electricity and that the company should remain the public company.

Efficiency

“They have a good milestone in terms of connecting people into their grid. It is clear that EEC has a lot of inefficiencies. They included in their report that there were two studies that they are yet to execute. That is the optimum financing structure and efficiency study, which the regulator long asked them to undertake. They have failed to produce any of these reports,” he said. He also said outsourcing certain functions to subcontractors is wrong and very expensive. “Following their outsourcing; their efficiencies in terms of providing quality service was always compromised,” he said.

He also said even the future projects that the company highlighted in their requests for tariffs increase were falling short of meeting the company’s future needs.“They were compiled in rush and do not reflect the greater problems that the company seeks to address.”Another consumer who identified himself as Mabuza, urged EEC to address its glaring inefficiencies.“They steal cables and no one is held accountable. EEC is also regulating the use of solar panels and this is not right. This justifies the demand to end EEC monopoly,” he said.

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