Eskom says the power utility will have to rely on increased support from the National Treasury in order to supplement non-payment by municipalities.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the rising municipal debt, now reaching R56-billion is one of the reasons the power utility’s debt remains stubbornly high.
Eskom also says Soweto’s debt has decreased to R4.6-billion after the power utility wrote off some of its prescribed debt.
De Ruyter was speaking at the power utility’s virtual financial results presentation for the year ending March 2022.
“We just are not seeing a turn in the ever increasing municipal debt. It’s a very serious matter of concern and if it’s not structurally addressed, we will have to return to National Treasury not to address the access debt caused by the fact that we have an unsustainably high debt burden due to adverse tariff decisions but to support those municipalities where councils choose not to pay Eskom,” says De Ruyter.
VIDEO: ESKOM RELEASES ITS DELAYED 2021/ 2022 FINANCIAL RESULTS
Meanwhile, Eskom has reported a net loss of R12.3-billion for the year which ended 31 March 2022. The power utility says the financial loss is largely due to high finance costs and the usage of Open Cycle Gas Turbines to supplement generation capacity.
Eskom has reduced its gross debt from R401-billion to R396-billion. Eskom outgoing CEO Andre De Ruyter says the parastatal’s high debt remains unsustainable.
“Our net loss while still unacceptably large at R12.3 billion is a 51% improvement compared to the prior year sales volumes were moderately up after a recovery in demand following the COVID pandemic. And we saw the balance sheet continue to show some improvement as you can see there, we spent approximately R70-billion on repayment of debt as well as interest paid.”
Eskom’s annual results show improvement in financial performance, however, continued poor plant performance and high debt levels continue to be a concern
To view the full suite of reports for the year ended 31 March 2022, go to https://t.co/v6vpxeOVpk pic.twitter.com/WmHf46gv9y
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 23, 2022
