Cosatu on Wednesday vowed to fight \u201cto the bitter end\u201d any attempts to privatise Eskom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Congress of SA Trade Unions is not surprised by media reports that there are moves within government to privatise Eskom,\u201d spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a continuation of an agenda started in the late 1990s when government scaled down investment in the electricity sector with the hope that the private sector would invest in the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Business Day reported that a team of Cabinet ministers and government officials were looking into restructuring Eskom’s business, which included selling some of its power stations to private investors.<\/p>\n
The options being discussed by the ministerial team, representing energy, public enterprises, and the national Treasury, have not been made public.<\/p>\n
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown was quoted as saying it would be \u201cpremature to make pronouncements until completion of the process\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a statement later, Brown said: \u201cI want to indicate that there is a portfolio of options for the inter-ministerial task team to consider. To my knowledge Cabinet has not discussed the matter of privatisation and there is no need to unnecessarily raise temperatures around this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that it would be a grave mistake to privatise Eskom.<\/p>\n
On July 28, the power utility painted a gloomy picture of its books, telling MPs it faced a R225 billion revenue shortfall, partly as a result of being granted lower-than-expected tariff increases by the National Energy Regulator.<\/p>\n
Eskom has been asking for an equity injection of at least R50bn to solve its cash-flow problems.<\/p>\n
On July 30, Nersa announced it had approved the regulatory clearing account (RCA), paving the way for Eskom to raise electricity tariffs next year.<\/p>\n
The RCA is a regulatory mechanism that allows Eskom to adjust for over-or under-recovery of revenue, as initial price determinations are based on projections and assumptions.<\/p>\n
Craven said the calls indicated that the \u201c1996 class project agenda\u201d had not been exorcised completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis calls for maximum vigilance by progressive forces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can\u2019t fit into the agenda of the second phase of radical transformation (in the African National Congress’s second term of office) and must be defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said electricity was critical for transformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not hesitate to mobilise our members to defeat these remnants of the 1996 class project.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 1996 class project is defined as the emergence of a small group of influential black people who used the state as a way of accumulating power.<\/p>\n