Eskom Chief Financial officer, Calib Cassim, has painted a bleak picture of the power utility’s finances. He says more revenue is needed through price increases to maintain sustainability. This comes amid public concern about continued load shedding and widespread corruption in recent years at Eskom.
The power utility has requested a 15% tariff hike for the next three years the annual increase would be three times higher than the inflation rate – if approved.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has kicked off public hearings in Cape Town regarding Eskom’s tariff hike which totals 45% over the next three years.
•NERSA public hearings kick started by the presentation from Eskom Chief Financial Officer Mr Calib Cassim on RCA Year 5 application and will follow by MYPD4 applications pic.twitter.com/NmGikk6T2j
— NERSA_ZA (@NERSA_ZA) January 14, 2019
Cassim says the energy giant is currently about R420 billion in debt. Cassim says it needs R45 billion alone to service its debt.
He says while Eskom has requested 15% annually for the next three years, for it to fully cover its debt services, it will need 29% for the first year 13% for the second year 4% for the third year. He says the 15% prices increase for three years will mean that Eskom will not be able to cover 50 billion in debt services.
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