DA welcomes Treasury's proposal to sell Eskom’s coal stations
29 August 2019
On Tuesday, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, released an economic strategy paper which sets out practical proposals for reforms needed to get the economy growing, including selling some of Eskom's coal-fired plants as part of restructuring the state-owned power utility.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes this move which is in line with our Cheaper Energy Bill. We hold the view that this proposal will free up billions of rands which Eskom and our economy desperately needs.
Treasury’s proposed move will also help Independent Power Producers (IPP) enter into the energy industry by giving them rare access to the national grid and allowing them to sell their output - thus reducing Eskom’s hegemony and control of almost the entire electricity industry.
If implemented, it will indicate that government is serious about attracting investment in the sector by allowing private entities to become power producers.