Gordhan: Search on for new director general for public enterprises:
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said an advertisement for a new director general for his department would soon be going live after Kgathatso Tlhakudi was dismissed from his duties on 26 May.
“We couldn’t do anything until the disciplinary process was over. We have to now go through a process of advertising. We’ll be looking at those processes internally,” Gordhan said in a presentation to parliament’s standing committee on public accounts.
Tlhakudi, who Gordhan suspended last year, was found guilty of gross misconduct by exceeding his legal authority and unlawful recruitment that prejudiced qualified candidates.
Gordhan said the issue had come to light after the Public Service Commission wrote to him about a complaint from a candidate who was unhappy with the process she had gone through.
The minister said since director generals were formally appointed by the president and not a minister, the report on Tlhakudi had been submitted to the presidency, which elected Justice Minister Ronald Lamola to manage the matter.
Parliament said in April that Gordhan would be called to respond to claims by the department’s Tlhakudi, of impropriety in the SAA/Takatso Aviation deal. This was after Tlhakudi claimed in a protected disclosure and in a letter to parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula that the national carrier had been undervalued by R7 billion as part of its takeover by the Takatso consortium.
“As far as we are concerned there is a fabrication of a lot of things around SAA and we rebutted them many times,” Gordhan said in Tuesday’s presentation.
“And now we hear the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] is looking into this matter as well. There was the labour court, the high court was also involved, and now the bargaining council. We are actively trying to rebut the lies that have been spread.”
Tlhakudi has said he will appeal his suspension and dismissal and will be at the bargaining council on 8 June for arbitration.
A day before his dismissal, the public enterprises department issued a statement that, rather than allow for due process, Tlhakudi “has instead opted to impugn the reputation of the department, its staff and by extension its executive political authority, Mr Pravin Gordhan, the minister of public enterprises”.
“Minister Gordhan refutes the baseless claims and allegations by Mr Tlhakudi that he interfered and handpicked the Takatso consortium as the preferred bidder to purchase the 51% shareholding in South African Airways.”
The department said since his suspension Tlhakudi had gone on the offensive to portray himself as a victim who opposed the SAA-Takatso transaction, despite him having been “a key driver and proponent of the SAA-Takatso transaction”.
In Tuesday’s presentation, the public enterprises department confirmed to MPs that after the SAA takeover deal was completed, Takatso would have 51% shareholding as the majority shareholder with the government owning 49%.
The Competition Commission recently recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the proposed merger between Takatso Aviation and SAA subject to divestiture and employment conditions.
Treasury: Eskom continues to make a loss despite bailout:
Despite a 9.61% tariff increase approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and a R21.9 billion bailout from the treasury, Eskom is set to post a R21.2 billion loss.
This is according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who was presenting the preliminary outcomes for state-owned enterprises and government departments for the fourth quarter of 2022-23 to parliament’s standing committee on appropriations.
Eskom’s financial woes increased because the utility spent more than it was supposed to, the treasury said. The chief expense was diesel, which was used to limit load-shedding stages.
“Eskom’s debt stock swelled to R439 billion — about a 10% increase over the year — due to the weakening rand and borrowing activities. It earned less revenue than anticipated and spent more, especially on diesel [R21.36 billion], which was more than double the previous financial year,” Godongwana said.
Eskom has been trying to recoup its money owed to it from municipalities and through the help of Nersa’s tariff increases, which would help it reduce its debt.
The embattled utility is looking to get back more than R350 billion with the tariff hike. This comes at a time when Eskom has plunged the country into stage six rolling power cuts caused in part by continued breakdowns at its stations.
In March, Eskom said only a few municipalities had entered into active agreements with it, despite developing a debt management strategy.
At the same time, Deputy President Paul Mashatile described municipal debt as a crisis that was worsening the power utility’s financial state.
“As of the end of December 2022, municipalities owe Eskom R56.3 billion, and the debt is rising. It is clear that we need a debt-relief strategy that will acknowledge the inherent risk of unviable municipalities,” Mashatile said in parliament.
Bail out?
In his February budget speech, Godongwana gave the utility a R254 billion debt bailout for the next three years. One of the conditions is that Eskom will not be allowed to incur further debt for new electricity generation in this period.
The utility plans to have its first gas to power project up by 2028 following consultation with both Nersa and Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe to build a new combined-cycle gas power station in Richards Bay.
Nersa said in a statement last week that it had agreed to Mantashe’s draft section 34 determination that the power utility procure 344.5 megawatts of new generation capacity and battery storage.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, the utility said it is in discussions with the treasury to renegotiate the bailout terms to enable it to fund its projects.
“Once Eskom gets the go-ahead in terms of the Nersa process for the gas plant, as well as the treasury’s support, an appropriate funding model will be developed as well as a detailed business case and an “appropriate” procurement process will be launched,” the utility said.
Mandisa Nyathi is a climate reporting fellow, funded by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa.
BREAKING: Eusebius McKaiser dies:
The Mail & Guardian has confirmed that it’s former columnist, Eusebius McKaiser, 45, died on Tuesday from a suspected epileptic seizure.
MORE HERE: Eusebius McKaiser, broadcaster and journalist dies at age 45.
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