CONSUMERS CONTRIBUTE TO UNKNOWN GOVT FUND

The Swaziland Energy Regulatory Authority (SERA) offices. This is the body tasked with regulating the energy sector in the country.

MBABANE – Electricity consumers are unwittingly contributing to the establishment of an unknown multimillion Emalangeni Electrification Access Fund (EAF).

The Times SUNDAY has learnt that electricity users in the country, when purchasing units, pay an extra charge that is referred to as the electricity levy of E0.0129 cents (less than two cents) for every unit of electricity bought.
The Times SUNDAY has established that SEC  has over 164 000 customers, according to its 2016 Annual Report.

The company’s customers are categorised to Domestic (S1), General Purpose (S2), Small Commercial (S3), Life Line (S10), Small Holder Irrigation (K4), Large Commercial and Industrial (K5) and Large Irrigation (K6).
If one assumes that all the customers purchase electricity units worth E200 per month, calculations indicate that each customer contributes about E2 to the fund per month.
Therefore this means the 164 231 customers contribute about E328 462 per month.

Since it is now three months since the unknown collection of the levy started, further calculations indicate that a sum of over E985 000 has been collected so far if each customer spends the minimum of E200 per month. Still using the same minimum, in a year’s time, at least over E11.8 million would be collected. 

Swaziland Energy Regulatory Authority (SERA) Consumer and Stakeholder Management Manager Sikhumbuzo Nkambule told the Times SUNDAY that this is a new initiative in the country which is in line with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy’s, as well as one of the then Millenium  Development Goals (MDGs) now known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that of ensuring access to electricity for all.
“We should also recall that, in the State of the Nation Address early this year, targets or efforts to increase access to electricity for all through enforcement of the Rural Electrification Programme were emphasised,” said Nkambule.
Information reaching the Times SUNDAY is that this levy is aimed at ensuring that, in the foreseeable future, the country has a fund that can be made available to help consumers who would need electricity connection.
“One could add that it is important for electricity buyers to look at this levy from a social responsibility point of view. This is because this levy provides an opportunity for every electricity buyer in the country to contribute towards the economic development of the country, whereby Swazis who are not able to afford new connections to the grid will be able to have access to electricity, thereby improving their quality of life,” reads part of the emailed reponses from the energy sector regulatory body - SERA.

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