Eskom Slashes R83 Billion Debt, Pravin Gordhan Says Unbundling Is on Track
- Embattled power utility Eskom has managed to shift its debt down by a whopping R83 billion in the past financial year
- Eskom had a high debt of R484 billion but by the end of March the debt stood at R401 billion, say reports
- Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed the news as he spoke on Tuesday, 25 May, to Parliament during his budget vote
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Eskom has brought its large debt down by R83 billion over the last financial year. This is according to Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan who spoke to Parliament on Tuesday, 25 May. Reports revealed that the embattled power station's debt reached R484 billion over 2020/2021.
Gordhan explained that as at the end of March, the debt stood at R401 billion. The reduction in debt can be attributed to the fact that the exchange rate improved and that there had been repayment of existing debt.
Eskom is fixing defects at the Medpi and Kusile plants as well as the Koeberg nuclear power plant. The utility will be 'unbundled' soon and this will be separated into three standalone entities; transmission, distribution and generation.
Source: Getty Images
A report by BusinessLIVE stated that due to the repayment of older debt and the changes in the exchange rate, Eskom was able to slash their mountainous debt. The report continued by saying that Eskom had reached savings of around R13.5 billion over the same financial year.
Gordhan mentioned that the power utility had made headway in various areas which have improved, however, this is still a work in progress as reported by TimesLIVE.
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Previously, Briefly News reported that Gordhan revealed that Eskom is in the process of quantifying a loss of R841 million at its Kusile power station that came as a result of the project being halted in 2019 following allegations of fraud and money laundering against those involved with the tender process.
Concerned South Africans have a lot to say about the Kusile corruption scandal, yet so many appear to be at a loss of words for the amounts of money being thrown around while so many of them are poor.
@CaptCapeTown asked:
"In the private sector, this project would have been stopped when the cost started exceeding 10%. Or at least seriously investigated. How in hell can a project go 3x the original budget? Where is the oversight? Where is the governance?"
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Source: Briefly News
