The Department of Public Enterprises says South African power utility Eskom’s 40 per cent of breakdowns are as a result of human error.
The department, which oversees embattled Eskom, said in a presentation to parliament on Wednesday in Cape Town there may be more power cut.
It told the parliament that the utility was struggling to keep its mainly coal-fired plants running due to coal shortages and poor maintenance.
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The department said Eskom was technically insolvent and would “cease to exist” at the current trajectory by April, unless it got a cash injection.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said last week the government would support Eskom’s balance sheet but that the scale of that support would be revealed only in a budget speech by the finance minister on February 20.
Gordhan also told parliament on Wednesday that South Africa was not planning to privatise embattled power utility Eskom after the firm was split into three separate entities of generation, transmission and distribution.
“At no stage has the president said, or the government indicated, that there would be privatisation of any of these entities or that this is the motivation for the separation into three entities,” Gordhan said.
President Ramaphosa announced the plan to split Eskom into three entities last week, in an effort to make the company more efficient. (NAN)
