The Minister of Finance told the Progressive Business Forum that government has dropped the ball on Eskom by not focusing on its problems simultaneously.
SOWETO – The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana says alternative energy sources need to be found, and it does not matter where it comes from.
He was networking with the business community on the sidelines of the African National Congress’ (ANC) national elective conference at Nasrec this Saturday.
Godongwana told the Progressive Business Forum (PBF) that government has dropped the ball on Eskom by not focusing on its problems simultaneously.
This comes as the country grapples with stage six power cuts that have had an immense impact on businesses and households in the country.
He says government is caught between a rock and a hard place on Eskom’s debt crisis, since it is the guarantor for the nearly R500 million it owes lenders.
Godongwana says while government has focussed on putting more money into the power utility, it has not done enough to boost supply.
“I don’t care who delivers that new capacity, whether it’s somebody from Mars, it’s immaterial, I want electricity on the grid.”
His comments come just days after Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter resigned, leaving office at the end of March 2023.
Godongwana says after 14 years of load shedding, government has failed in its handling of the crisis.
“Without fear of contradiction, we also dropped the ball because we focused on fixing Eskom, rather than on fixing power to the grid. There’s a difference between these two.”
Since 2019, government has ploughed R230 billion into Eskom.
#ANC55 Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is speaking to the business community this morning, on the sidelines of the national conference. LD pic.twitter.com/76oMTsyU3k
‘ EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) December 17, 2022
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