An urgent meeting of the President’s National Stakeholders Advisory Council on Electricity should be held, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said on Friday.
This followed the release of electricity parastatal Eskom’s results on Thursday showing that it had posted a loss of R9,7-billion.
Busa said in a statement that it was ”deeply concerned” not only at the magnitude of the financial loss sustained by Eskom, but also the fact that the release of the important information had been delayed.
”Losses of this magnitude are not sustainable,” Busa said.
”The size of the loss has clear implications for the ‘mix’ of tariff increases, loan financing and additional state funding, which will now be necessary to provide sustainability.”
It added that the full burden of Eskom’s future funding could not be placed on higher tariffs alone — as it was clear from recent inflation data that electricity costs were playing a major role in preventing inflation from falling faster.
”This keeps interest rates higher than they otherwise need be. This has to be balanced against Eskom’s funding needs,” Busa said, adding that the present situation could have serious consequences for security of electricity supply in South Africa.
”In order to facilitate greater transparency and consultation about the Eskom crisis, Busa calls for an urgent meeting of the President’s National Stakeholders Advisory Council on Electricity to review the situation and discuss the way ahead,” Busa said. — Sapa