Riyaz Patel
President Cyril Ramaphosa has reemphasized that government’s plan to reconfigure and split Eskom into three divisions is not aimed at privatising the embattled power utility.
These measures, he said, are rather aimed at stabilising the utility and getting it back on its feet.
“We are not going to privatise Eskom,” he said, comparing the move to auctioning the family’s silver.
Ramaphosa was addressing Eskom workers and contractors at the Medupi Power Plant in Lephalale in Limpopo Tuesday.
“Eskom is going to continue being owned by our government.”
Government has announced drastic interventions, ranging from addressing debt management to operational matters to reverse the entity’s current challenges.
In his State of the Nation Address early this year, the President announced that Eskom would be split into three entities: operations, distribution and transmission.
“This has been done all over the world. China has done it, Brazil has done it, a number of countries in Africa have done it, some countries in Europe have done it.
“They have done the focus areas of the business so that they can maximise and get people to pay, so that they operate efficiently. And that is precisely what we are seeking to do,” he said.
Ramaphosa added that it was important for Eskom to be globally competitive.
“We want to modernise Eskom so that Eskom can operate better, so that Eskom can be in line with new technologies, in line with modern times. Eskom must be able to compete with other electricity generating companies around the world.“
“Already we are number four with Medupi. We have got to stay up there and be able to operate at the same level as others,” he said.
The President pointed out that while South Africa was the biggest energy producer on the continent, it had come at huge financial cost.
“One of the biggest challenges is the debt that we have had to build Medupi and Kusile. In building these power stations, we have had to go and borrow a lot of money and today Eskom owes over R400 billion, which is a debt that the government has to carry,” he said.
“But we are addressing this problem. The government has decided that we are going to continue to support Eskom. We aren’t going to let Eskom go down. Eskom is too important, we are going to support Eskom, even though we have got a huge debt.”
The President also acknowledged the efforts of workers at Medupi.
“What is important is to see all of you who have been involved in building this power station. The power station that we are building is already the fourth biggest in the world. And you can be proud in that you have managed to build a mighty power station that is recognised all over the world.“
