Eskom debt
Eskom forecasts net loss of R26.2bn for 2020/2021 financial year
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that municipalities were some of the main offenders but said that Eskom had secured 64% of funding for the 2021 financial year by...
One municipality’s Eskom debt makes up just over 30% of its R6 billion budget. Gauteng local government MEC Lebogang Maile said municipalities are working with Eskom to resolve the debt.
Eskom added that its pre-audited results for the 2019/20 financial year reflected a closing cash balance of R23 billion, and that the risk of power cuts would remain until after it had completed an 18-month maintenance programme.
On Monday, the utility told Eyewitness News that Soweto residents had made some progress in paying off their cumulative debt, which is now sitting at R12.9 billion.
The power utility has been dependent on government guarantees for years now to keep up with its operations, as it struggles with a R450 billion debt bill.
The trade union federation has suggested using workers’ pension funds to bail out the cash-strapped utility.
The utility's debt has escalated by over R20 billion in just a few years, with chairperson Jabu Mabuza saying debt owed to the company stood at only R1.3 billion in 2013.
In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa has also assured South Africans that technicians were working around the clock to fix problems at several power stations to restore stability.
A select committee was considering a bill that would see the power company being allocated an addition R59 billion over the next three years.
The three separate entities will deal with generation, transmission and distribution under Eskom Holdings.