Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been urged to clarify how Eskom has been avoiding implementing load shedding and if Eskom has been burning diesel.

This comes after it emerged that Eskom spent R65 billion between 2019 and this year on diesel.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have questioned the amounts spent on diesel. The DA’s Mimmy Gondwe said Eskom and Ramokgopa have not provided clarity on the use of diesel.

However, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has shed light on the matter when he told Parliament that Eskom spent R65 billion on diesel in the last five years.

Gondwe said this was equivalent to R1 billion spent on diesel a month.

“Following the dismal failure by the Minister of Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and the Eskom Board chair Mteto Nyati to provide clarity on Eskom’s diesel use, evidence has since emerged that Eskom has been burning diesel at a rate and scale that dwarfs the annual budgets of NSFAS.

“A reply to a DA parliamentary question by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Minister Pravin Gordhan, has revealed that Eskom spent a cumulative R65bn on diesel over the past five years to fire its Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs). This equates to over R1bn of diesel spend per month over five years,” said Gondwe.

She said burning so much diesel was not sustainable.

The IFP said Ramokgopa must give real reasons for the suspension of load shedding. IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said this was an election ploy by the African National Congress (ANC).

“The IFP views the sudden suspension of load shedding as an election ploy. We must recall that less than 24 hours after the Springboks won the 2023 Rugby World Cup, load shedding returned to the country with Eskom implementing Stage 2 and Stage 3,” said Hlengwa, adding that electricity was critical to the economy.

If the government was putting the grid under pressure for political reasons, this would have consequences in future.

The Minister of Electricity must take the nation into confidence on the issue of Eskom.

siyabonga.mkhwanazi@iol.co.za

IOL Politics