Light shed on Eskom crisis panel

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has set up a special Cabinet committee to deal with the Eskom crisis – and it will address the problem on a daily basis.

Ramaphosa also denied claims by opposition parties and trade unions that the splitting of Eskom into three entities would lead to privatisation.

The president, who was replying to the debate on his State of the Nation address, said that there was no silver bullet to the Eskom crisis.

He said Finance Minister Tito Mboweni would make an announcement on the power utility when he delivers his Budget next week.

It has been suggested that Mboweni will announce a financial package for Eskom. The Department of Public Enterprises told Parliament on Wednesday that the power utility would run out of cash in April.

The National Treasury had in the past described Eskom as a risk to the economy. Ramaphosa repeated this sentiment, warning that all efforts have to be made to fix the power utility.

“Ultimately the restructuring of Eskom is intended to ensure security of electricity supply for the country, which is critical for investment, growth and jobs,” said Ramaphosa.

“I have constituted a special Cabinet committee on Eskom. It will be led by the deputy president (David Mabuza) and consist of the ministers of public enterprises (Pravin Gordhan), energy (Jeff Radebe), finance (Mboweni), transport (Blade Nzimande), intelligence (Dipuo Letsatsi-duba) and police (Bheki Cele).”