Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has reiterated that critical talks are under way within government to address Eskom’s financial problems, adding that the issue is being addressed “not as an Eskom problem but as a national priority”.

Addressing lawmakers during her Budget Vote on Wednesday, Brown stressed that the fifth democratic administration had placed resolving the electricity supply problem at the centre of its agenda.

She added that, in the current difficulty economic environment, financing of the build and capacity expansion programmes had become more challenging. “It is clear that a sustainable funding framework that is independent of the fiscus is required,” she added.

“This framework must attract private sector funding and guarantee a reasonable return on assets on the one hand. On the other, it must allow space for government to leverage the build programme for better developmental outcomes.”

However, it was far from clear whether such an approach would apply to Eskom, which was facing a R225-billion revenue shortfall as a result of having been granted five yearly tariff increases of 8% between 2013 and 2018 by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa instead of the 16% it had requested.

A task team comprising the National Treasury, the Department of Public Enterprises and the Department of Energy had been working with Eskom on solutions for some time and last week received a copy of the utility’s proposed ‘comprehensive sustainability plan’.

The plan contained Eskom's proposed remedies and it is widely anticipated to include a request for additional support from its shareholder, the South African government.

It was also likely to include the cost-saving business productivity programme, which was already under way, as well as proposals for raising more than the R300-billion in debt initially anticipated to help fund Eskom’s build programme.

In parallel, moves were also under way to claw back prudently incurred expenses through a regulatory process and there was also a possibility that Eskom could seek to reopen the latest tariff determination in a bid to accelerate the transition to “cost-reflective” electricity prices.

Brown gave assurance that ongoing concerns related to the affordability and reliability of electricity supply to residential and business consumers was “being addressed very seriously and very urgently”.

But she also indicated that she was ready to put pressure on the State companies falling under her responsibility, saying: “State-owned companies must simply get the basics right. Those with a direct interface with citizens and businesses must deliver quality, affordable and accessible services consistently.”

She added that she was prepared to act against boards that “fiddle while precious public money burns and/or who fail to ensure that the company fulfils its core mandate”, but that she had no intention of micro-managing the entities.