Chairperson, the 49M campaign is an important campaign by Eskom and the Department of Public Enterprises, given the electricity constraints that we will experience until 2013, when the first unit of Medupi will come into operation. What is important is that Eskom has been upfront, open and very transparent to the public about the challenges we are faced with.
We have come forward on a weekly basis to inform the public about the challenges we are confronting and how we are dealing with them. We have undertaken an extensive emergency response programme to ensure that we succeed in our objective to keep the lights on. However, for Eskom to be able to succeed in implementing this energy conservation campaign, we need every single South African to contribute towards that common effort, to contribute to saving energy, so that we are able to assist Eskom in meeting its objectives.
We have made a commitment to South Africans that we are going to do everything in our power not to implement load shedding. That commitment depends not only on Eskom meeting demand but also on South Africans implementing energy efficiency measures to reduce demand, so that Eskom is at all times able to supply energy both to households and business. In that regard, I think it's important that the House commends Eskom for the efforts they have undertaken and for the assurances they have continued to give the public.
The decision to reduce the tariff from 25,9% has been a major decision by Eskom, as requested by the President, to help the poorest of the poor and contribute to job creation and economic growth. In this decision, Eskom has sacrificed R8,1 billion, which they would have claimed from the tariff increase. Again, what is important in the successful implementation of this decision is for all South Africans to reduce the demand.
It is also important that we appeal to the private sector as well as municipalities to ensure that the windfall is experienced by the consumers. We don't want to reduce the tariff on the one hand but, on the other, consumers don't feel the impact of the decision that has been made. [Time expired.]