Cape Town - Parliament has re-opened the Eskom Debt Relief Bill for public comment.
The Eskom Debt Relief Bill proposed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana provides for R254bn debt relief for Eskom.
It is an intervention aimed at addressing Eskom’s unsustainable R423bn debt burden. However, the proposed debt relief would come with conditions – including not allowing Eskom to take on any new debt for the next five years.
The R254bn would be broken up over three years, R78bn for 2023/24, R66bn for 2024/25 and R40bn for 2025/26.
The Bill states: “The National Treasury must advance the amounts envisaged in subsection (1) as a loan to Eskom on the dates determined by the Minister. The Minister must determine conditions for the conversion of a portion or portions of the amount of the loan for each financial year into ordinary shares issued by Eskom to the State.”
Public participation platform Dear South Africa, said they had last week represented the voice of 9,298 active citizens to National Assembly, who had a say on the Bill.
“As a result, the proposed Debt Relief Bill has been passed on to the second House of Parliament, the NCOP – which has also called for public comment. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to further influence the government's decision,” Dear South Africa founder, Rob Hutchinson said.
Meanwhile trade union federation Cosatu’s parliamentary coordinator, Matthews Parks added: “COSATU welcomes the positive aspects in the Eskom Debt Relief Bill and hopes it will provide the support Eskom needs to ramp up maintenance and end load shedding. The Federation is however concerned about the debt relief conditions attached, in particular the prohibition on Eskom investing in new generation capacity. Unless it is allowed to invest in new modern generation capacity, its long term sustainability remains at risk.”
The federation said Treasury needed to work with Eskom to deal with its fiscal leakages and develop an accurate cost reflective regime that does not budget for “corruption and wasteful expenditure and expect the public to subsidise this”.
Members of the public can comment on the bill via: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/eskom-debt-relief/
Cape Times