SAfrica can't afford sharp power price hike - ANC

JOHANNESBURG, May 16 (Reuters) - South Africa's economy can't afford a sharp electricity price increase, a senior ANC leader said on Friday, adding that the state power utility should not be allowed to use pricing to make up past losses.

"We are convinced that the economy cannot afford that sharp increase in electricity prices," ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said at a summit to discuss Eskom's [ESCJ.UL] request for a 53-percent increase in electricity tariffs.

He said it would be wrong for Eskom to use price hikes to recover from past losses. "We should not allow that to happen." (Reporting by Paul Simao; Editing by Caroline Drees)