Municipalities indebted to Eskom risk losing their distribution licences; Eskom gets millions from China; Kusile problems are blamed on BEE requirements; and Satrix is delisting three ETFs next month.
Municipal debt of R63bn is one of the most pressing challenges facing Eskom, which itself is also struggling with money problems. Eskom’s distribution group executive, Monde Bala, noted that penalties won’t work. “We can impose penalties for late payment, but when a municipality is not paying its bills, the penalty will be of little effect”. So, Eskom is now considering stronger enforcement of the distribution licence conditions.
However, its first unit only came into operation in 2017, and its fourth only reached commercial operation last year. The last two units – Units 5 and 6 – have not been commercially operational. Former President Thabo Mbeki said black economic empowerment requirements were to blame, noting they were used to delay the construction for years in order to find a suitable BEE-compliant contractor.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
South Africa's Eskom says transmission company to be operational by 2025South Africa's state power utility Eskom said in a presentation on Thursday that its transmission company will be operational by the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
Read more »
Host South Africa Gears Up For Brics Summit 2023The Brics nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will be meeting at the Brics summit hosted by South Africa on August 22-24, 2023. One of the main focus points will be the push for more trade among Brics nations in local currencies and reducing the reliance on the U.S. dollar. The planning for this summit was thrown into disarray after South Africa issued an invitation to Russian president, Vladimir Putin to attend in person. The International Criminal Court in The Hague soon thereafter issued an arrest warrant for Putin, alleging war crimes against Ukraine. Russia has been waging a war with Ukraine since February 24, 2022. South Africa has claimed neutrality on the war, but this did not remove the diplomatic headache should Putin arrive in South Africa. U.S. Senator Jim Risch tabled legislation in Congress, aimed at shifting the 2023 African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) forum that will be hosted by South Africa, to another country, because of South Africa's close association with Russia. AGOA allows South Africa duty free trade on the first 25% of its goods exported to the U.S., wrote Esther Rose for AllAfrica on July 13, 2023. Meanwhile, Putin has decided to attend the Brics summit via video link while sending Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to attend in his place.
Read more »
MTN launches funeral insurance via WhatsAppMTN South Africa is pushing deeper into financial services, offering funeral cover to South African consumers.
Read more »
Brics Swells to 11 Members as Six More Nations JoinSouth Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that six more nations - Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - will become full members of Brics from January 1, 2024. President Ramaphosa said: "Leading up to the Summit, there was a wide-ranging Brics business programme aimed at attracting investment, promoting collaboration and showcasing opportunities within South Africa, Africa and Brics countries." The summit hosted by South Africa, has seen much criticism levelled against the West by Russia and China. The Brics Summit 2023, which is the first in-person summit since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019, ends today, August 24th.
Read more »
5 important things happening in South Africa todayGodongwana talks down “de-dollarisation”; China donates millions to help end load shedding; Transnet is looking at another handout; and government steps up war against construction mafias.
Read more »