Largely characterised by two to four-hour-long power outages daily, South Africa’s ongoing energy crisis continues to put more pressure on the government to intervene as the blackouts continue to stagnate the country’s economy.
In a statement issued on Thursday Minister of the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said that despite difficulties, progress is being made in stabilising Eskom and restoring generation capacity through the interventions detailed in the Energy Action Plan.
Energy security is the top priority for the government and should serve as our focal point. As a government together with its partners, we are forging ahead with the Energy Action Plan. We are implementing the Energy Action Plan, and we are seeing some successes, despite the challenges that we face along the way.
Eskom's request to be exempted from the new generation regulations is one of the major initiatives underway to address the country’s energy crisis. This, according to Gungubele, will enable the power utility to make several other critical interventions as well as emergency procurements.
Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan welcomed the National Treasury Department’s decision to move R254 billion of Eskom’s debt onto the government's balance sheet, which was announced during the 2023 Budget Speech on Wednesday.
This move is said to stabilise the utility’s financial position and enable it to undertake the necessary investment and maintenance needed to support the security of electricity supply.
“The debt relief is a Government commitment to turn around the power utility and a clear indication that we will do everything in our might to reform Eskom and ensure its operational and financial sustainability,” said Gordhan.
Eskom's debt increased from R396 billion at the end of March 2022 to R422 billion as of December 2022.
