SA to grasp Eskom bull ‘by the horns’, says Rob Davies
Eskom, which warns of R20bn in losses, is considered by many to be the single greatest threat to the country’s economy
The government will soon unveil its plans around the heavily indebted Eskom, trade and industry minister Rob Davies said on Tuesday, as the chorus of warnings about the risk the parastatal poses for the entire economy grows. The Minerals Council SA, which represents 90% of SA’s mineral production by value, has said that if Eskom is granted permission to raise its tariffs by 15% or more a year for the next three years, a third of the country’s 450,000 miners will be out of work. Eskom — which warned of its losses deepening to R20bn in the financial year to March and a debt R419bn that its cash flow is unable to service — is regarded by many businesses as the single biggest threat to SA’s economy. “It’s no secret that Eskom is in deep trouble operationally and financially. But what I can say is that in addressing this we have to grapple with the real problem and not put it aside,” Davies said at a mining investment conference on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town. “We’ll ...
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