State power utility, Eskom is forking out R500 million to give its head office a make-over, while it also seeks a R50 billion bailout from the South African taxpayer, the Sunday Times reports.<\/p>\n
The renovations include a VIP entrance, new interior decor, landscaped gardens, timber deck walkways and motorised venetian window blinds, the Sunday paper said.<\/p>\n
Eskom recently came under renewed criticism last month after it imposed emergency load-shedding.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, BusinessDay reported<\/a> that Eskom has asked government for an \u201cequity injection of at least R50 billion\u201d in order to bail the company out of an \u201cacute\u201d cash-flow spiral.<\/p>\n The company, however, quickly moved to reassure investors. \u201cEskom would like to reassure the nation at large that its cash flow situation is very stable,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n Moreover, newly appointed acting CEO, Collin Matjila, is not without controversy of his own during his time as former CEO of Cosatu\u2019s investment arm, Kopano ke Matla.<\/p>\n The Sunday Times pointed to tender documents showing proposed upgrades to Megawatt Park, Eskom\u2019s head office in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n These include:<\/p>\n The tender documents articulate a need for space, for expansion, energy efficiency, and health and safety of staff, as justification for the revamp.<\/p>\n Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger told Sunday Times that the upgrade was budgeted for and would cost \u201cin the order of R500 million\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a status upgrade,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea is not to . . . make it prestigious. These are measures which need to be taken to ensure the occupational health of employees.”<\/p>\n \u201cThere are definite hygiene factors that affect the building. Second, our data centre is inadequate. We need to protect information and have the correct back-up power supplies you would find in a modern data centre.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe final consideration is energy efficiency. The building, because it\u2019s old, is not very energy efficient. We\u2019re asking our customers to employ energy-efficient measures and we need to set an example,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Eskom reassures the nation over cash flow<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Eskom wage bill shock<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n No guarantees: Eskom<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n
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