The Standing Committee on Appropriations has urged Eskom to collaborate closely with the National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to ensure that there is full municipal cooperation in the implementation of the Distribution Agency Agreement (DAA) programme.
The power utility briefed the committee today regarding the Eskom Debt Relief Bill. The committee expressed deep concern over Eskom’s increasing debt levels and that the power utility continues its trajectory towards unsustainable indebtedness.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Mmusi Maimane said: “When we examine the various pieces of legislation under consideration by this committee, it is undeniable that Eskom remains a pivotal component. The state of Eskom’s liquidity, along with serious concerns raised by municipalities around debt servicing are critical factors, especially in light of the appropriations made to Eskom.”
Mr Maimane said he feared that Eskom will be heavily indebted despite being in receipt of the Eskom Debt Relief Bill. The committee further said the lack of urgency in addressing underperforming and financially distressed municipalities, many of which are unable to service their debts to Eskom, is a major contributor to Eskom’s debt burden.
The committee also highlighted that Eskom was not doing enough to curb the ‘ghost tokens’ in the pre-paid electricity segment and the failure to address it has contributed to significant revenue losses.
Furthermore, the committee recommended that the power utility needs to ensure that it deals decisively with acts of sabotage carried out by its own employees. The committee cautioned that that the power utility needs to begin exploring ways to harness its own energy sources and not rely on independent power producers as this process can easily be influenced by political forces.
The committee called on Eskom to urgently implement decisive reforms to address inefficiencies, improve governance, enhance revenue collection, and safeguard its infrastructure.
The committee will tomorrow, 11 June receive a briefing from the City of Johannesburg and the City of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipalities on the 2025 Division of Revenue Bill.
Africa Fact: On bling culture, one seventeenth century visitor to southern African empire of Monomotapa, that ruled over this vast region,
wrote that: “The people dress in various ways: at court of the Kings their grandees wear cloths of rich silk, damask, satin, gold and silk cloth; these are three
widths of satin, each width four covados [2.64m], each sewn to the next, sometimes with gold lace in between, trimmed on two sides, like a carpet, with a
gold and silk fringe, sewn in place with a two fingers’ wide ribbon, woven with gold roses on silk.”
Africa Fact: Southern Africans mined gold on an epic scale. One modern writer tells us that: “The estimated amount of gold ore mined
from the entire region by the ancients was staggering, exceeding 43 million tons. The ore yielded nearly 700 tons of pure gold which today would be valued
at over $7.5 billion.”
Tart Voodoo
Fun South African Fact: The South African flag was used for the first time on Freedom Day 1994.
Bug Fire
South Africa: You have two cows. The one with more white patches has more privileges.