SAPTU (South African Parastatal and Tertiary Institutions Union), notes with optimism President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request to suspend the increase in power tariffs of 18%.
This is a particularly difficult time for South Africans who are burdened by load shedding and various economic challenges.
“This is an extremely sensitive issue. SAPTU supports the president’s request,” says Adv Ben van der Walt, SAPTU’s secretary general.
The waiver of load shedding for the agricultural sector is also a step in the right direction, believes Van der Walt.
“We have several members in the agricultural sector. And that is why we support the initiative that farmers and certain Agricultural enterprises will soon be exempted from Phase-6 load shedding. SAPTU supports representatives of agricultural organisations and the country’s agricultural role players in their continued and positive contributions to these challenges as well as discussions with the Minister of Agriculture.”
Van der Walt further called for the establishment of a task force to address South Africa’s power challenges for agriculture.
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