Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that Eskom’s board and executives appear before Parliament’s Energy and Electricity Portfolio Committee to account for the R1 billion court-ordered payment to French nuclear company, Framatome, following the failed Koeberg steam generator replacement project.
The DA wrote to the Chair of the Committee, Nonkosie Queenie Mvana, requesting that this matter be placed on the agenda for urgent interrogation. We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that the payment is classified as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Koeberg’s Unit 2 shutdown in 2022 was supposed to last five months for refuelling and steam generator replacement. But Eskom later informed Framatome that it would not continue the work, prompting a breach-of-contract claim. Instead of acting transparently, Eskom arrogantly blamed Framatome and refused to engage with the adjudicator in good faith. That decision has now cost South Africans R1 billion. This money could have gone to fixing our failing grid or easing load reduction.
This disaster is part of a wider pattern of financial mismanagement. Just eight months ago, the DA highlighted the R840 million Wilge housing failure – another costly white elephant. In Limpopo, R250 million was wasted on abandoned housing projects. Eskom’s 2023/2024 financial year showed R24 billion in losses, including R6 billion in material losses and R5 billion in irregular spending.
South Africans deserve better than a utility lurching from one billion-rand scandal to the next. The DA will not allow the Koeberg payout to be buried like Wilge. We will pursue every avenue to protect consumers from Eskom’s failures and ensure full accountability. Eskom’s board and executives must explain to Parliament, and the public, how they allowed this to happen and what concrete steps they will take to stop it from happening again.
Regards
Kevin Mileham MP
DA Spokesperson on Electricity & Energy