Pretoria - Eskom will later this month hold a media briefing at which it will share details of its performance.
“All hands are on deck as all of Eskom’s over 40 000 employees work daily to keep the lights on. We will share full details of our technical, financial and socio-economic performance at a media briefing on 12 July 2017,” said Interim Group Chief Executive, Johnny Dladla in a statement.
Dladla, who was appointed as the acting Group Chief Executive earlier in June, said the utility’s power system is in a healthy position and is able to meet South Africa’s daily power needs comfortably with an operational surplus of 5 500MW.
Eskom assured South Africans that it remains committed to continue delivering on its mandate of providing sustainable power supply during this period of high demand and beyond.
Dladla said he is prioritising meeting with critical stakeholders, including employees, to share and get support for operational plans going forward.
“Together with my executive management team, we will put special focus on corporate governance and ethics going forward, a move that will help us to restore confidence and stability in the company.
“We are on course with our five priority initiatives, which are: increasing demand for electricity; reducing primary energy expenses; implementing advance analytics to deliver savings; releasing government guarantees and optimising our capital expenditure,” he said.
The acting Group Chief Executive said the power utility will address issues raised by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown. These are the management of contracts; conflict of interests; and the quality of coal supply.
Dladla’s comments come as the company’s executive committee met for the first time on Thursday.
He was pleased to note that Eskom has managed to secure 77% of its funding requirements, including cash on hand, for the current 2017/18 financial year despite tough market conditions.
In addition, in the 2016/17 financial year, Eskom had for the first time managed to increase its borrowings by over R60 billion in one single year, a move that is indicative of the confidence that the investors still have in Eskom.
“We remain resolute that we will fully execute the required funding for the year, albeit under challenging market conditions. Our liquidity levels remain healthy and Eskom’s financial profile continues to improve and stabilise,” said Dladla. –SAnews.gov.za
