News that electricity utility Eskom will be seeking a shocking 19.9% tariff hike from April 1, 2018, is not at all welcome, despite the fact that the utility absorbed a 2.2% increase this year. To make things worse, the application has been made amid worrying claims of corruption at the State-owned company, as well as South Africa’s first recession in eight years. Expect the blowback from society to be more fierce than the recent Cape storms.