Gloom extends to profits

PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said yesterday that Eskom’s net profit had dropped to R3.6 billion in the financial year to March compared with R7.7bn in the previous financial year. Brown’s announcement comes at the same time that she told South Africans that the country faced power cuts for the next 18 months as it was struggling with capacity shortages. Brown said, speaking after the annual general meeting of Eskom, that she had instructed the board to fill all senior management positions. “It is unacceptable that senior and middle-management positions are staying vacant for so long,” she said. “Two other areas of concern are Eskom’s financial sustainability and improving the reliability of the power plants.” She said the utility would implement power cuts to prevent the grid from being overwhelmed. – Staff Reporter and Reuters