Eskom keeps details of short-term coal contracts confidential
In response to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), Eskom has refused to divulge information on its short to medium term contracts. The response to the parliamentary question states that: "All coal requirements in excess of those supplied by the long-term agreements are procured through short to medium term contracts. The detail in this regard is confidential and its disclosure could be prejudicial to Eskom's commercial negotiations in support of security of supply."
A copy of the full reply is available upon request.
The fact that Eskom has overspent its budget by R 8 billion, mostly due to wasteful spending on short term contracts, clearly shows that it is a crucial part of information that needs to be made public - it cannot hide its dismal management by simply averring confidentiality and security considerations. That is what the Apartheid government did.
The DA will demand answers on the short-term contracts and will ask the Minister of Public Enterprises, Barbara Hogan, how it is that parastatals can claim confidentiality at all if they are owned by the government and therefore the people of South Africa. The DA will call on the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Enterprises to have Eskom called before the committee and explain why they are shirking their constitutional obligation to submit to parliamentary oversight and to explain in detail the cost and reasons for engaging in short term coal procurement contracts.
Eskom is a public enterprise and has received billions in government bailouts in recent years, but conventionally forgets the oversight role of Parliament after the state funds have been paid over. The reality is that Eskom is wasting millions of rands in its short term coal contracts, and it is desperately trying to cover its tracks.