Eskom needs debt relief and tariffs, or its back to Treasury with a ‘begging bowl’: De Ruyter

Outgoing CEO of Eskom, André de Ruyter, believes that the power company requires both debt relief and increased tariffs in order to survive.

South Africa has experienced 100 consecutive days of electricity cuts due to supply shortages primarily caused by outdated coal-fired power plants. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government is currently making efforts to resolve the energy crisis that is affecting the economy.

Eskom, burdened by R396 billion of debt and various issues such as breakdowns, theft, and sabotage at its plants, has been implementing blackouts for approximately 15 years, however, the outages have become increasingly severe in the last five months.

According to the central bank, the blackouts, also known as load shedding, are causing a daily loss of R899 million for South Africa’s economy. De Ruyter stated that in order to avoid returning to the National Treasury in five years, “we need cost-reflective tariffs.”

Originally reported by News24: https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-needs-debt-relief-and-tariffs-or-its-back-to-treasury-with-a-begging-bowl-de-ruyter-20230207

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