National treasury is “engaging” with the department of public enterprises and Eskom with the aim of identifying solutions to the purchase of diesel.

However, in a statement on Thursday it warned it can’t just come up with the money needed to allow Eskom to fire up its diesel-powered open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), even as South Africa endures some of the worst load shedding on record.

“The staggered nature of the budget process, which allows for the necessary legislative and executive oversight as well as for well-informed planning about how to allocate the country’s scarce financial resources, makes it difficult to consider and accommodate any ad hoc funding requests outside of this process, especially large requests that are made at short notice.

“The budget process allows for government departments and state-owned entities to follow a set process to submit their funding requests to be considered for inclusion in the budget, which is then approved by parliament.”

Eskom is no longer burning diesel in its open-cycle gas turbines, saying it simply doesn’t have the budget to do so until its new financial year begins on 1 April 2023.

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Treasury said Eskom did not apply for funding through the budget process and Eskom management should therefore take all necessary steps to ensure they secure the diesel needed to avert severe load shedding.

“That said, national treasury and the minister of finance are acutely aware of the impact that Eskom’s diesel shortages may have on already severe levels of load shedding,” it said. — Additional reporting (c) 2022 NewsCentral Media