A handful of residents concerned about the high electricity tariffs yesterday protested outside the Eskom offices in Bellville.
Electricity prices increased by 13.5% on 1 July for Cape Town residents, after Eskom increased their tariffs for municipalities by 17.8%.
One resident said instead of getting 41 units for R100, she now only get 31 units.
The Equal Rights Forum’s Thulani Pike says: “We are fed-up with watching as people are taken for a ride by this government, we are paying too much for everything.
“We are saying NO to high electricity tariffs, because we believe that electricity is a basic human right and not a privilege.
“We know that Eskom took the National Regulator to court in order for us to pay high tariffs that will come from the pockets of the poor.”
About 10 people picketed and placed their placards against Eskom’s fence.
Pike says they want national government to reconsider the “ridiculously high” tariffs: “We are here to say that enough is enough, our people are paying too much.”
He said more pickets were planned: “The Covid-19 regulations have limited us on the number of people we can invite to join us (to protest) but we have support on social media. We have thousands of people who are behind this campaign.”
Glenhaven resident Thereska Britz, 49, says she learned about the “High Tariffs Must Fall” campaign on Facebook.
“I don’t belong to any organisations, I am just a single mother who cannot afford this high electricity prices any longer.
“This is killing me and my family, I am now at the point where I have to choose between food and electricity.”