Eskom Spent R5.92 Billion on Diesel, SCOPA To Do Oversight Visit

• The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) discovered that Eskom burned through almost R6 billion procuring diesel
• SCOPA announced that it will be doing an oversight visit to the Medupi Power Station and meet with Eskom's board to discuss its performance
• South Africans believed that the sheer amount of money spent on producing diesel was due in part to corruption during previous administrations

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News's current affairs journalist, covered current affairs relating to the economy, finance, banks, and state-owned enterprises during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG—Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) will conduct an oversight visit at the Medupi Power Station after discovering that Eskom spent R5.92 billion on diesel.

SCOPA to visit Medupi

Eskom recently admitted during a parliamentary meeting that it spent R5.92 billion on Open-Cycle Gas Turnbines from April to October 2024 to ensure that loadshedding does not rear its ugly head. It said that 2685 megawatts of capacity did not return to service in September, which compelled Eskom to use diesel turbines.

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SCOPA's oversight visit will take place on 8 October. During this visit, it will also meet with Eskom's board to update it on its performance. The visit will also focus on the SOE's operational and financial performance, recovery plan, and cost-saving initiatives, among other pressing matters.

SA blames previous administrations

netizens discussing the visit on Facebook remarked that corruption from previous administrations laid the foundation for the SOE spending billions on diesel.

Peter Avis said:

"Identify the cadres making money from this, and we need to know why the minister lied to the country when he stated they were not using diesel."

John Devenish said:

"The problem with the loadshedding started in 2007 to 2008 when Mbewki was president. South Africans were told that it was necessary to build more power stations."

Johann Weich said:

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"It was all for elections. Nothing was fixed. Who has the contracts for the diesel?"

Sphiwe Nkuna asked:

"Who is profiting from all that diesel?"

Beverly Gray Mace said:

"Please check when they will be burning coal again. We cannot afford to keep burning diesel."

6 arrested for Eskom fraud

In a related article, Briefly News reported that six people were recently arrested for fraud relating to Eskom.

They were arrested for fraud, theft, and money laundering over R400 million, which upset many in SA.

Source: Briefly News