PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said the energy department will take over responsibility for overseeing state utility Eskom Holdings, which has been failing to meet the nation’s power demand since 2008.
The change will be in line with a resolution adopted by the governing African National Congress at its national conference last week, which specified that state companies operating in specific economic sectors should be overseen by the relevant government departments.
That could potentially signal a dissolution of the Department of Public Enterprises, which oversees Eskom, logistics company Transnet and several other entities.
“It is a clear mandate from conference,” Ramaphosa told reporters at a media event in Johannesburg on Monday. “The resolution will be implemented,” and the government will decide how and when it will be done, he said.
Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, has been at the epicenter of a national energy crisis, because its old and poorly maintained plants can’t generate adequate power to meet demand. It subjected the
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