The National Treasury on Friday said that R15-billion of its previously promised three-tranche R23-billion fiscal support for State-owned power utility Eskom had been transferred to date, with another R3-billion to be transferred in March.
The original agreement saw R10-billion transferred in June last year and R5-billion of the initial R10-billion tranche transferred in December after the then Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene withheld R5-billion.
“Following the submission of additional information by Eskom on February 22, the [new] Finance Minister [Pravin Gordhan] approved transfer of a further R3-billion,” the Treasury said in a statement.
The National Treasury explained that it would work with Eskom over the next few weeks to manage the transfer of the remaining R2-billion, as well as the R3-billion that was originally scheduled for March.
“Eskom will submit information in early March and the National Treasury will assess this before approving the transfer.”