The Free State town of Frankfort is fuming after a legal battle with a state-owned power utility forced its solar plant to dump desperately needed electricity amid a record energy crisis.
"If they are not going to allow us to use the solar... or to use our own electricity, we don't have any choice, we will have to take the law into our own hands," warned Hans Pretorius, a local cereal farmer, who grows cereals and relies on electricity to power the irrigation system.They can't produce any electricity and we are not allowed to use the electricity that we produce. It doesn't make sense.
Similarly, Thando Keswa was forced to close his takeaway business in Frankfort's township of Namahadi as the cost of running a generator had become too expensive.That situation prompted local businesses and individuals to invest about R100 million to build a solar farm, which was completed in December.
"If the floodgates are thus opened, Eskom's ability to ensure the safety of the grid ... will be severely compromised," it said in its affidavit.
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