Timing of Electricity Price Increase is a Crisis
www.MyPE.co.za:
NERSA’s granting of a 31.3% price increase to ESKOM will erode the
South African manufacturing industry’s competitive advantage on a
global basis while industry is trying to survive the challenging times
currently presented with. With the particular vulnerability experienced
by the automotive sector – a major industry in the Eastern Cape – Angus
Clark, chairperson of PERCCI’s Strategic Resources Forum, said that the
timing of this increase is a crisis in itself. “To absorb a cost like
this while companies are retrenching and reducing volumes plus the
presence of a global surplus, is very negative,” said Clark.
Kevin Hustler, PERCCI CEO, said that business and consumers have not
been taken into account in this decision. “While we accept Eskom’s need
for expansion, this can surely not be done at the expense of industry,
and ultimately the South African economy.” While the South
African economy has been resilient so far towards the global financial
crisis, the Chamber hopes that this price hike will not cause a
negative spiral.
Source: PERCCI.
Port Elizabeth Budget Accommodation
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