RISE Mzansi’s National Assembly Caucus Whip, Makashule Gana, says the issue of Eskom’s debt may create an economic timebomb if left unresolved.
Gana made the assertion on Sunday after having received a reply from the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, to a RISE Mzansi parliamentary question.
Gana said the Minister’s reply “lays bare how debt to the value of R437,6-billion threatens efforts to ensure the supply of reliable, affordable and sustainable power to businesses and households”.
“The Minister, in his reply, shockingly states that municipalities are owed R347,6-billion by consumers; and in turn municipalities owe Eskom R90-billion thus creating a timebomb that if not attended to, our already weak economy will only get weaker,” he stated.
Gana believes that this electricity debt is “man-made” and requires intervention from all spheres of government. He committed to “closely monitor” the ongoing interventions by the Minister.
Among the reason mentioned by Ramokgopa for this debt crisis, “outdated billing systems and inefficiencies in metering and monitoring electricity usage contribute to under-collection and rising debt”.
Meanwhile, Eskom announced last week that the suspension of loadshedding has surpassed the 250-day mark, resulting in year-on-year diesel savings of R16.99 billion.
The power utility said this is all due to its investment in the Generation Recovery Plan.
“With the December summer break approaching and many industries shutting down for this period, along with continuous progress in minimising unplanned outages, Eskom has started to gradually increase its planned maintenance activities to further improve the reliability of its generation fleet.
“The recovery plan has resulted in year-on-year diesel savings of R16.99 billion, approximately 70.0% less than the R24.27 billion spent during the same period last year. Diesel usage remains below the year-to-date budget,” Eskom said in a statement.
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