National Assembly passes Eskom money Bills
Two money Bills which would see Eskom’s balance sheet beefed up by close to R50-billion within the next year were given the green light by the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The Eskom Special Appropriation Bill paves the way for the payment of the first tranche of a R23-billion cash injection to Eskom which is expected to be funded from the sale of government’s nonstrategic core assets.
During Wednesday’s debate, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene again remained mum on what government assets were sold to fund the lifeline to the troubled power utility, despite concerns raised by opposition parties about the “secrecy” surrounding the deal.
“Before the end of June, you will know which assets. The process followed a market sounding exercise held and we confirm the decisions we’ve taken was the correct one,” Nene said.
The first tranche of R10-billion was expected to be paid to Eskom before the end of the month. The second tranche of R10-billion would be paid before December, and the outstanding amount during the 2016/17 financial year.
The Eskom subordinated loan Special Appropriation Amendment Bill, which was also passed on Wednesday, paves the way for the conversion of a R60-billion government loan to Eskom to be converted to equity.
The conversion was expected to reduce Eskom’s debt by R24.4-billion, Nene had previously said.
The two Bills were rejected by the two biggest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters.
EFF MPs were ejected from the House for unparliamentary conduct before being able to explain their position.
DA MP Malcolm Figg said that without transparency, his party would not support the Bill.
“Why all the secrecy? We simply cannot allow the ongoing secrecy surrounding the ongoing sale of assets to go on…,” he said.
Despite the objections, the Bills were pushed through. Both Bills were sent to the National Council of Provinces for processing.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
Rentech provides renewable energy products and services to the local and selected African markets. Supplying inverters, lithium and lead-acid...
VISIT SHOWROOM
For over 60 years, VEGA has provided industry-leading products for the measurement of level, density, weight and pressure. As the inventor of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
