Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and Business Unity South Africa have called on Eskom to withdraw its legal challenge against the electricity trading licences granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), warning that the litigation undermines national energy reform efforts.
Eskom filed a High Court application on July 24, seeking to set aside NERSA’s approval of five trading licences and one import/export licence. The utility argues that the decisions were made without a proper regulatory framework and that the new traders may “cherry pick” profitable customers without contributing to cross-subsidies built into Eskom’s tariffs.
In a joint statement, the organisations urged government to intervene urgently, stating that Eskom’s actions contradict the policy direction of market liberalisation and risk delaying new private investment in generation and storage.
“Eskom cannot be both the primary cause of our energy crisis and the gatekeeper of its solution,” said Busi Mavuso, CEO of BLSA.
The business bodies are calling for:
- An immediate halt to all legal action by Eskom
- A public commitment to accelerate grid integration of new generation
- Clear directives aligning Eskom with national energy reform policy
An in-depth article on this legal dispute will appear in the August edition of the Energize digimag.
