Parliament, Cape Town - Two money bills which would see Eskom’s balance sheet beefed up by close to R50 billion within the next year were given the green light by the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The Eskom special appropriation bill paves the way for the payment of the first tranche of a R23 billion cash injection to Eskom which is expected to be funded from the sale of government’s non-strategic core assets.
During Wednesday’s debate, finance minister Nhlanhla Nene again remained mum on what government assets were sold to fund the lifeline to the troubled power utility, despite concerns raised by opposition parties about the “secrecy” surrounding the deal.
“Before the end of June, you will know which assets. The process followed a market sounding exercise held and we confirm the decisions we’ve taken was the correct one,” Nene said.
The first tranche of R10 bln was expected to be paid to Eskom before the end of the month. The second tranche of R10 bln would be paid before December, and the outstanding amount during the 2016/17 financial year.
The Eskom subordinated loan special appropriation amendment bill, which was also passed on Wednesday, paves the way for the conversion of a R60 billion government loan to Eskom to be converted to equity.
The conversion was expected to reduce Eskom’s debt by R24.4 billion, Nene had previously said.
The two bills were rejected by the two biggest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters.
EFF MPs were ejected from the House for unparliamentary conduct before being able to explain their position.
DA MP Malcolm Figg said that without transparency, his party would not support the bill.
“Why all the secrecy? We simply cannot allow the ongoing secrecy surrounding the ongoing sale of assets to go on…,” he said.
Despite the objections, the bills were pushed through. Both bills were sent to the National Council of Provinces for processing.
ANA