Economist warns power price increases could put jobs at risk

Economist Dr. Frederich Kirsten has warned that the increase in electricity prices may affect job security as some small business owners may struggle to keep their businesses afloat.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has officially approved an 8.76% tariff increase for Eskom’s direct customers, effective from 1 April.
Municipal customers will face an even larger increase of 9% starting in July. Kirsten says while larger businesses might be able to find alternatives to mitigate the impact, small businesses may struggle to find solutions.
“The small businesses are seen as the lifeline of the South African economy in terms of creating new jobs. They are the innovators, they are the entrepreneurs that come in and want to start a business, start employing people in their area. And then when they fail then there is those five to 10 to 20 jobs that get lost. And I think it’s so important that we need to think about that as in South Africa. The middle class is very vulnerable and if you add SMMEs who are trying to make it, if they shut down then a lot of jobs get lost with that.”
  VIDEO | Economist Dr. Frederich Kirsten says the hardest hit by the rise in electricity prices:

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