South Africa is looking to spend billions of rand to secure energy from mega-projects on the continent at a time when state power utility Eskom is broke and struggling to supply enough electricity.
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Recent evidence splashed across newspaper front pages and televised hearings about bribes and sweetheart deals suggest the rot runs far deeper than most people thought.
The planned merger of the departments of communications and telecommunications & postal services was “gaining traction”, with senior staff urged to work quickly to conclude the “configuration”.
The government is facing potentially unpopular decisions needed to fix state companies. So far, it’s shied away from hard choices.
Eskom is said to be considering the sale of smaller assets as the state-owned power utility weighs solutions to a liquidity crisis that contributed to a wave of rolling blackouts.
Economists estimate that the South African economy could have been 10% larger by the end of 2014 if it had not been for crippling power shortages.
Eskom wants government to absorb about R100-billion of debt as part of a rescue plan for the state-owned utility, according to a report, a move that will put further strain on already stretched state finances.
It’s deja vu for South Africa as a chronic power deficit plunges large tracts of the country into darkness and casts a pall over the already struggling economy.
South Africa emerged from its first recession in almost a decade in the third quarter as recoveries in manufacturing and agriculture contributed to an increase in economic growth.
Cash-strapped power utility Eskom should rely on bond markets to raise the funds it needs rather than expecting bailouts from the government, finance minister Tito Mboweni said.