In South Africa, the Minister of Finance presented his budget for 2023 to parliamentarians gathered in Cape Town on Wednesday. And faced with an unprecedented electricity crisis, the South African state is once again flying to the aid of the national company Eskom.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargeles
As state-owned power giant Eskom poses a risk to the country on the brink of collapse, public finances will once again support its recovery, as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced: “ We are proposing an agreement to relieve Eskom’s debt to the tune of 254 billion rand, 13 billion euros. This agreement is accompanied by very strict conditions, to protect public funds, with, among other things, the obligation for the company to concentrate on the maintenance of its fleet of existing power plants, in order to increase the quantity of electricity available. »
The Minister also detailed a set of tax advantages, for businesses and individuals, to encourage the development of solar energy.
But this new rescue of Eskom is obviously not without consequences for the state budget: “ Due in large part to this debt relief from Eskom, government debt is expected to stabilize at a higher than expected level of 73.6% of GDP in 2025-2026. This puts us three years behind our forecasts. »
The country is also waiting to find out, by this weekend, whether it will be placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list for its lack of measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which could put its economy in a little more trouble.
Eskom CEO landed earlier than expected
Andre de Ruyter, resigning from the South African public electricity company Eskom, was ousted from his post on Wednesday, Eskom announced in a press release. CEO of Eskom since 2020, he announced his resignation in December but was expected to remain in post until the end of March to give the company time to find a replacement for him. The Board of Directors decided that Andre de Ruyter had “ no need to serve the rest of his notice and was ” released from its obligations with immediate effect Eskom said.
A few hours earlier, the ex-CEO had, in an interview, expressed doubts about the government’s political will to fight against endemic corruption within Eskom. In December, shortly before submitting his resignation, he had been the victim of an attempted poisoning.
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