President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that social partners will be important in State-owned enterprise Eskom achieving energy security, as he noted the improvement in its financial position, which he said reflects the significant recovery in its operational performance.

Eskom’s latest financial results showed a return to profitability for the first time in eight years.

In his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa credited strong multi-sectoral partnerships for Eskom’s financial improvement, as well as consistency and sticking to long-term goals, despite criticism.

Ramaphosa said when government announced the National Energy Action Plan in 2022, the national power utility’s losses stood at R12.3-billion and its debt had ballooned to over R300-billion.

“At the time, Eskom’s auditors noted that there was ‘material uncertainty relating to Eskom’s ability to continue’”.

“Thanks to the collaboration between different government departments, the stewardship of the National Electricity Crisis Committee (NECOM) and hard work by the leadership and staff of Eskom, Eskom is turning the corner,” he said.

Eskom’s improved financial position will enable it to invest in critical infrastructure and maintenance under its Generation Recovery Plan, Ramaphosa added.

He said there are plans to invest more than R320-billion in expanding existing infrastructure.

Further, he noted that as the reliability of Eskom’s coal-fired plants has improved there has been less needed to burn diesel, resulting in about R16-billion in savings on diesel costs.

In the 2025 financial year, the country experienced loadshedding on just 13 days, down from 329 days the year before, with Ramaphosa saying Eskom is to be congratulated on this achievement.

He noted that there are still serious challenges, highlighting that municipal debt arrears have grown by 27% since the previous financial year.

“…that is why we continue to work with municipalities to come up with sustainable solutions that enable municipalities to settle their accounts with Eskom, as this is key to its financial viability,” he said.

Government continues to pursue the other pillars of the Energy Action Plan, with Ramaphosa stating that these are accelerating the procurement of new generation capacity, increasing private investment and pursuing structural reforms to transform the electricity sector.

The Electricity Regulation Amendment Act that came into effect in January also helped to open the sector and pave the way for a more competitive electricity market.

Ramaphosa explained that this legislative amendment allows for the restructuring of Eskom into separate generation, transmission and distribution units, as well as for private sector investment and diversification that will ultimately benefit consumers.

“With grid expansion being central to getting more capacity, Eskom, in partnership with the private sector, has plans to build approximately 14 000 km of new transmission lines over the next decade,” he said.

The role played by these partners in NECOM and the Government Business Partnership has been invaluable, he stressed.

“…two years since its inception, this collaborative model continues to yield results not only around energy but also in the other workstreams of transport and logistics, crime and corruption and youth unemployment,” he said.