DA’s Bill seeks to break Eskom monopoly

The DA is forging ahead with its plan to introduce a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to break the monopoly of power utility Eskom. An IoL report says a notice has been published in the Government Gazette in which the DA’s Natasha Mazzone showed her intention to introduce the Independent System and Market Operator (Ismo) Bill. ‘The Ismo Bill will be introduced during the second half of 2019,’ reads the notice. This comes after the publication of the explanatory summary of the Bill in February. The DA wants Eskom to be split into two companies with one of the companies focusing on power production and the second on distribution, which will allow cities to purchase power directly from independent power producers. In her notice, Mazzone said it could not be denied that Eskom had effectively become a zombie enterprise that was both over-inflated and riddled with corruption. She said the power utility served as both the main generator and the central purchaser and distributor of electricity. ‘It actively marginalises independent power producers to maintain the stranglehold that it has over energy production at the expense of end-users, who have to endure hours of load shedding as a result.’