R17 billion Eskom bailout proof that things are much worse and ANC only keeping lights on until Election Day
18 April 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes that the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, as is required by section 16 (4) (a) of the Public Finance and Management Act (PFMA), tabled in Parliament today a report which details a bailout to Eskom to the tune of R17.652 billion. The first R5 billion was paid to Eskom on 2 April 2019. This report was snuck into the ATC without much fanfare to hide the true extent of this crisis.
Minister Mboweni indicates in his report that the amount was limited to R17.652 billion by Section 16 (2) of the PFMA which limits such “emergency” funding to a maximum of 2 percent of the appropriated national budget. This clearly indicates that the cash crisis at Eskom is far worse than the R 17.652 billion and that the amount would have been far greater had this limitation contained in Section 16 (2) not existed or was higher.
The Fifth Parliament remains in operation and it is the view of the DA that there is an urgent need for the Parliamentary committees of Finance, Appropriations and Public Enterprises to hold a joint meeting to be fully briefed on the financial crisis facing Eskom, and to provide a report with recommendations to Parliament.
I have written to Yunus Carrim, Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, to request that he convene a joint committee meeting with the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Portfolio Committee of Public Enterprises in order to receive a full briefing from Eskom and Tito Mboweni, Minister of Finance, on the liquidity crisis facing Eskom.