SA Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni on Tuesday proposed a "once-off tax" rather than a tariff hike to help Eskom build capacity.

"I'm quite certain that if we took a vote here 100 percent of us would agree to a once-off tax just to build the capacity of Eskom. As long as it was a once-off and not repeated again and again," Mboweni told a conference of the Road Freight Association in Vanderbijlpark.

Mboweni said industrial policy and structural reforms were necessary for any nation's recovery from the global economic crisis.

"In our case what we can do to develop the industrial zones that we have in this country?

"We shouldn't forget those structural reforms which are necessary. Structural reforms can contribute to better competition and lower inflation," said Mboweni.

"When my colleagues at Eskom say they would like to increase the energy tariffs by the kind of margin that they're talking about it doesn't help very much with structural reform."

While Mboweni said he agreed more power capacity was needed, he added a tariff hike would not benefit the industry.

"None of us want to experience [Eskom's power failures] again and somebody has to pay for the construction of the new capacity," said Mboweni.

Eskom had proposed to increase its tariffs by 34 percent this year. The utility said the increase was necessary to build capacity to satisfy South Africa's electricity demands.

Eskom spokesman Fani Zulu said on Friday the utility would need R274-billion over the next three years. Of this, R141-billion would be provided by loans.

Zulu said Eskom's current financial model only allows it to use tariff rates for running costs, not building capacity.

"Once it (a new financial model) is developed and implemented, we can apply for (a tariff hike, for) the full three years," Zulu said.

He added that there was a "strong consensus" that capacity building would be needed for economic growth.

"You can't talk about growth and development without giving the necessary power supply," said Zulu.