Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
FINANCE Minister Nhlanhla Nene has asked Parliament to urgently approve the R23 billion cash injection to Eskom to allow the power utility to continue to run its business.
Nene, who was introducing the Eskom Special Appropriation Bill in the National Assembly yesterday, said the quicker this bill was approved by Parliament the better for Eskom.
The bill has been referred to the standing committee on finance for processing and approval and would then be tabled before the National Assembly for final adoption.
Nene urged the committee to adopt the bill before the end of June, to allow for the first payment of R10bn before the other two tranches can be paid in the next few months.
He said the power utility needed the money to run its operations as he had promised in the medium-term budget policy statement last October and the Budget in February that Eskom would be given the cash.
Sale of assets
“Significant progress has been made in raising the funds. Anticipating the receipt of proceeds and to ensure that the first R10bn can be transferred in June 2015 as has been announced, I am introducing into Parliament the Eskom Appropriation Bill which provides for the appropriation of the R23bn funding allocation announced in February 2015,” said Nene.
While the first R10bn will be paid to Eskom this month, the second R10bn would come in December. Nene said the last R3bn would be paid to Eskom in January next year.
“The financing of the R23bn will be deficit neutral as per the original intent.
“The process of raising the funds through the sale of non-core assets is firmly on track and details will only be made public at an appropriate time,” a statement issued by Treasury said.
Eskom has to sell some of its non-core assets to raise the money. Nene confirmed work was being done to sell Eskom’s non-core assets.