Major pay day for Eskom next week - Taxpayers fork out R20 billion

Eskom interim CEO Calib Cassim. File Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency (ANA)

Eskom interim CEO Calib Cassim. File Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Oct 19, 2023

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Embattled state entity Eskom will receive close to R20 billion next week from National Treasury, according to Reuters.

According to interim CEO Calib Cassim, the funds form part of the second portion of the debt relief package government has promised.

The funds were first announced in February by government and were given in the hopes that it would help Eskom manage its debt commitments. Taxpayers would be forking out R254 billion to help Eskom pay R423 billion worth of debt that it owes to a number of global bodies.

"We have got a big maturity with the syndicated banks coming up now in October, so we will get this money from the Treasury next week,“ Cassim said.

End of load shedding?

Earlier this week Eskom confirmed that the Kusile power station unit 1 is back in service, a month and a half ahead of time.

In a statement, Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena said the return to service brings and additional 800MW to the grid.

“This is after Kusile Unit 3 was returned to service on September 30 and consistently delivering 800 MW,” Mokwena said.

“The two units are both adding 1,600MW back into the grid, improving the available generation capacity. This signifies that Eskom is on the right path to reducing, and ultimately ending load shedding.”

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