President Cyril Ramaphosa set to announce further relief for Eskom

Pretoria - President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce further measures to support efforts for the recovery and financial and operational sustainability of cash-strapped Eskom, the presidency said on Tuesday.

This as Ramaphosa will on Thursday deliver the State of the Nation Address (SONA) following the constitution of the sixth democratic parliament after getting a fresh mandate during the 8 May general election.

In his February SONA, Ramaphosa announced that Eskom would be split into three units to help it reduce costs, boost its balance sheet, and enable it to approach creditors.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa met with members of the Eskom board at Genadendal Residence in Cape Town.  

The presidency said the meeting, which was also attended by the ministers of finance, mineral resources and energy and public enterprises, was called to establish alignment across government on the actions to be undertaken to stabilise the energy utility in light of its financial and operational challenges.

The presidency said the Eskom board presented a report on the implementation of the nine-point plan, focusing on its key priorities being the need to ensure an uninterrupted power supply, cutting costs, driving efficiencies and increasing revenue through, amongst others, higher collection rates.

Ramaphosa has previously said in various platforms that Eskom was too big and too critical for the country's economy to be allowed to fail.

"Ramaphosa reiterated to the Eskom board that the energy utility, Africa’s largest producer of electricity and one of our nation's most strategic assets, is critical to South Africa’s growth and development," the presidency said.

African News Agency (ANA)