Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has responded coolly to suggestions that Eskom could be privatised in the near future, saying on Thursday that, until an “end state” had been determined for the energy sector as a whole, it would be difficult to determine an end state for the troubled power utility.

Brown was speaking ahead of her Budget Vote address to Parliament, but after a surprise revelation by National Treasury director-general Lungisa Fuzile that the Electricity War Room and the National Treasury were considering the possible sale of Eskom assets, or even the sale of shares in the company in a effort to raise much needed funding.

The statement drew immediate criticism from former Congress of South African Trade Unions general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, who said he was “seriously concerned” that the move could result in the “back-door privatisation of a basic public service provider”.

“It runs the risk of repeating the huge error made in 1997, when the government was planning to privatise Eskom and refused to make funds available for its absolutely necessary investment in new generating capacity,” Vavi said in a statement, adding that a “a terrible price” was currently being paid for the mistake.

“Privatisation through the back door will only make the problem worse, as investors try to make a quick profit and prepare the way for an even worse crisis in the future. Electricity generation must be seen as a basic public service, whose sole priority is to provide the best, most efficient and affordable supply of power to the country.”

Asked whether the Minister could confirm that privatisation was indeed on the cards, Brown said that, while she remained a keen supporter of strategic partnerships with the private sector, Fuzile should be approached directly for a view on privatisation.

“I actually don’t really believe that we should have privatisation when it comes to basic services and that’s actually the policy of the ruling NGO,” Brown quipped, referring to the African National Congress’s long-standing opposition to privatisation.

She also questioned whether, under a profit-driven model, a private electricity provided would have moved to connect 160 000 additional households in 2014, despite it being the “deepest darkest time” for the financially and operationally distressed company.

But Brown defended private sector participation in principle and even the introduction of strategic equity partners on a case-by-case basis. She also defended the war room initiative, which she said was helping to remove silos between key departments, such as Energy and Public Enterprises.

However, the Minister was of the view that the future model for the energy sector should be determined ahead of any far-reaching restructuring of Eskom.

“We need to know what the end state is for energy and within that we will define the end state of Eskom – not the other way round, where we define the end state of Eskom, before we even know what the end state of energy should be,” she explained.

“I actually don’t believe we need to change the model for now. Until you know what we are working towards, until then, it will be [difficult] to make a decision on what happens in Eskom or any of the other State-owned companies.”