Treasury Gives In to Eskom’s Demands and Approves R4bn Funding to Buy Diesel: “This Is Insane,” SA Exclaims

• The standoff between Eskom and the National Treasury has ended with a R4 billion funding agreement for the power utility
• Outgoing CEO André de Ruyter said if Eskom had more money for diesel it would significantly reduce loadshedding
• With the cash from the Treasury, Eskom will be able to reduce loadshedding by two stages

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's National Treasury is in a giving mood after it approved Eskom's request for R4 billion in funding so that the struggling power utility can buy diesel.

This comes after a little over a month of back-and-forth between the two institutions after the power utility declared it had blown through its diesel budget in November.

In fact, the cash-strapped power utility overshot its annual budget by over 100% and with the months left in the 2022/23 financial year, Treasury's bailout could not have come any sooner.

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An insider with knowledge about the agreement told News24 that the R4 billion will get the ailing power utility through February and March, after which the new financial year will kick in.

When will loadshedding get better?

The power utility's outgoing CEO André de Ruyter said if Eskom had more money to buy diesel, there would have been less loadshedding. This is because Eskom would have been able to run the open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT) to their maximum capacity, DispatchLIVE reported.

Reportedly, the influx of cash from the Treasury will now enable the power utility to reduce loadshedding by two stages during peak hours.

South Africans react to Eskom's R4bn diesel funding approval

South Africans shared their opinion about the loan on social media.

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Below are some questions:

@Liz65251060 asked:

"Oh great. Now a State-Owned Enterprise has to take the begging bowl to the banks. What could possibly go wrong with that? Where are Treasury actually shedding the money?"

@peter_lomax exclaimed:

"This is insane. The economy needs to come first. Treasury should have gifted the money."

@MmuiWabatho complained:

"Eskom’s diesel budget is around R2.6bn instead André De Ruyter spent R9.3bn on diesel."

@RoystonWyatt claimed:

"It's really a no-brainer. Money is needed for emergency diesel. Eskom is owned by the state. The state is the ANC. Wake up and sort it out. This could have all been avoided."

@Msiza_Tosi declared:

"Eskom is financially and operationally unsalvageable and will come to the same end as SAA."

Mbalula’s talk on energy crisis cut short by loadshedding, video has peeps screaming: “You can’t make this up”

Earlier, Briefly News reported that loadshedding is turning the African National Congress into the bud of every South African citizen's joke and the ruling party's emergency energy dialogue only added fuel to the fire.

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While the ANC's newly elected Secretary-General was addressing members of the public on the country's energy woes, the dialogue was struck by loadshedding in a twist of irony.

Social media user @WatersMichael67 posted the video of the embarrassing moment Mbalula was thrust into darkness. Only moments before the lights went out, the ANC SG was seemingly throwing shade at the Democratic Alliance for taking to the streets to protest the energy crisis.

Source: Briefly News