Six parties debate cost of living

Politically Aweh's Elections Showdown asked six political party representatives how they would tackle electricity costs, transport and municipal rates ahead of local elections.

Electricity costs just jumped

Municipal customers have been paying an average nine point zero one percent more for electricity since July first, after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved Eskom's latest increase.

EFF: take electricity back

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the EFF's Johannesburg mayoral candidate, wants the City to take direct charge of electricity supply. City Power puts its electricity losses at about twenty seven percent.

ActionSA: freeze tariffs for a year

Dereleen James, ActionSA's Cape Town mayoral candidate, promised to freeze tariffs for a year to work out why prices keep going up. She said safety must come first.

“People's salaries haven't gone up, but everything has been adjusted.”

Rise Mzansi: fix billing first

Songezo Zibi said municipalities were charging fewer and fewer people who are able to pay more and more. Fix billing and administration before reaching deeper into ratepayers' pockets.

DA: buy from private producers

Eddie Andrews said nobody living on a social grant should worry about paying for electricity. His answer is competition: buying power from independent producers more cheaply than from Eskom.

ANC blames Trump for fuel costs

Cameron Dugmore partly blamed rising costs on US President Donald Trump's war with Iran. Wholesale diesel jumped from about seventeen point fifty nine rand a litre in January to thirty point thirty in May.

Cape Town traffic is a crisis

Dr Corné Mulder said transportation and traffic was a serious issue. Cape Town was ranked the world's sixth most congested city in twenty twenty five, with drivers losing ninety six hours per year to traffic.

Transport swallows working-class pay

Dugmore said working-class Capetonians spent forty percent of their income on transport. Andrews gave the same figure. Metrorail monthly ticket holders can travel from suburbs into town for about nine rand a trip.

Three parties back transport subsidies

ActionSA, the ANC and Rise Mzansi all want cheaper or free rides for people looking for work.

Climate change is driving food prices

Climate change is driving up the price of food and fuelling extreme weather, which is hurting communities and damaging city infrastructure. Parties offered solutions including planting trees and greening cities.

Nobody named the real culprit

When asked how they would cut emissions, not one party said coal or fossil fuels, and nobody mentioned the Just Energy Transition. The ANC came closest with talk of a less carbon intensive future.

The choice comes down to trust

The major split is over who should run things: the EFF wants the City to take services back, while the DA wants the private sector to help carry the load.