Coal, oil, and gas are just cheaper!

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Coal, oil, and gas are just cheaper! *

Fossil fuels may seem cheap, but let’s remember that the government props them up using your money - your income tax, VAT, fuel levies.

First, we pay through our taxes. R500 billion has been spent bailing out Eskom to keep its failing coal plants going. Instead of building renewable infrastructure or upskilling workers, Eskom keeps coal stations running that are already old, unreliable, and choking the air we breathe. 

If reallocated, that R500 billion could almost double the funding pledged internationally to help SA transition under the Just Energy Transition Plan.

Second, we pay again on our electricity bills. Electricity prices have risen more than 930% since 2007, while loadshedding increased. 

Why? Because Eskom is locked into costly coal power, and when coal plants fail, Eskom burns diesel to fill the gap. In 2022, Eskom spent R29 billion on diesel. Diesel power is up to ten times more expensive than wind or solar. When Eskom’s spending escalates, the cost is passed straight back to us through higher tariffs.

Third, we pay with our health. Coal pollution kills thousands every year and makes tens of thousands more sick with asthma, bronchitis, and heart disease. Families pay in doctor’s bills and medicine. Taxpayers pay again through the public health system. Altogether, coal pollution costs us an estimated R11–30 billion every single year.

Fossil fuels are not cheap, and the industry doesn’t pay the real costs − we do.

Renewables are already cheaper to build and run. If the billions spent on bailouts and subsidies went into clean energy, your cost of living would be lower.

Two African banknotes, a blue 100-dollar note featuring a lion and a profile of a person, and an orange 50-dollar note featuring a lion's face, placed on a white background.

Still not convinced?

    • Every rand spent keeping diesel and coal afloat is a rand not spent on renewables or grid upgrades. Since 2008, the government has spent nearly R496 billion bailing out Eskom. That’s money from VAT on your groceries, PAYE on your payslip, and levies on your petrol.

    • For perspective: R496 billion is more than double the entire international pledge (about R213 billion) made under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to help South Africa move to clean energy (ECDPM, 2024).

    • In other words, the government has spent more bailing out coal than the world has offered to support renewables.

    • We’re subsidising the wrong thing: Renewables are already the cheapest new power in SA, but fossil subsidies blunt that advantage. 

    • The Carbon Tax is supposed to “internalise externalities” (make polluters pay). But generous allowances/exemptions mean big emitters barely feel it.

    • Electricity tariffs have gone up by over 930% since 2007, far above inflation. Much of this comes from Eskom’s reliance on old coal plants that constantly break down.

    • When plants fail, Eskom turns to diesel, the most expensive way to make power. In 2022, Eskom spent R29 billion on diesel just to buffer against load-shedding.

    • Diesel-fired electricity costs R5–7 per kWh, compared to just 60c–R1.20/kWh for new wind and solar (CSIR Energy Centre, 2020).

    • Ordinary households don’t see a “diesel line item” on their bill — but they pay for it through tariff hikes.

    • Studies estimate coal-related health damages at R11–30 billion annually.

    • Coal pollution causes between 2,000 and 5,000 premature deaths every year in South Africa, mostly in Mpumalanga and Gauteng. 

    • Breathing in dirty air also causes asthma, chronic bronchitis, strokes, and heart disease. These illnesses cost families in doctor’s visits and medicine, and they cost taxpayers through the public health system.

    • In 2023, fossil fuel subsidies in South Africa reached R118 billion, up from R39 billion in 2018. That’s money that could instead fund rooftop solar for schools and clinics, or training programmes for workers in coal regions.

    • While the R380 billion needed to modernise the transmission grid so new renewable projects can plug in sounds like a lot, it’s not: load shedding drained over R560 billion from the economy in 2022, and another R77 billion in 2023 alone.

    • Until these upgrades happen to connect cheaper solar and wind power to more households, the drain from failing coal-based electricity generation and loadshedding will continue siphoning wealth from our economy and our pockets.