Majola said part of the problem arose from Eskom being constrained in terms of capital expenditure. It had concentrated its capital expenditure on Medupi and Kusile and neglected cost-plus mines that require Eskom to invest in infrastructure such as mine shafts. This had meant that those mines had not been able to deliver the monthly tonnages to which they were committed.
Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources mines being placed under business rescue made the situation worse‚ as those mines supplied three power stations‚ including Hendrina‚ Komati and Majuba.
Majola noted that Eskom had paid for a significant tonnage of coal from Hendrina in August in 2017 but the coal was never delivered. Disciplinary action was being taken around what amounted to a prepayment that never went through proper governance processes.