As South Africa struggles with an ongoing power crisis, the state power utility Eskom has said electricity prices need to double in the next two years. In a submission to the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa, Eskom bade to increase electricity prices by 53 per cent this year saying that the price rise would fund necessary infrastructure upgrades. The proposal is now open for public comments. The government has already approved a 14.2 per cent price increase for 2008-2009.

On April 17, thousands of members of South Africa's powerful trade union Cosatu staged country-wide protests against Eskom's tariff increase and rolling power cuts. They also criticized the government for backing Eskom.