Eskom exemption 'makes mockery of our beloved country': Black Business Council

04 April 2023 - 11:54
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Eskom head offices at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg. File photo.
Eskom head offices at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg. File photo.
Image: Freddy Mavunda

The Black Business Council (BBC) has requested a meeting with finance minister Enoch Godongwana and Deputy President Paul Mashatile to discuss a decision to exempt Eskom from regulations under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) requiring state-owned companies to disclose expenditure that does not comply with the provisions of the act. 

The decision has been met with widespread shock.  

TimesLIVE reported a notice in the Government Gazette of March 31 stated Eskom will be exempt from having to disclose in its annual reports for three years irregular, fruitless or wasteful expenditure, starting from the financial year that ended in March. 

The utility said it had been engaging stakeholders from the Treasury and the department of public enterprises for several months on its proposal to seek the minister’s approval for the exemption and departure application. 

With the exemption, irregular, fruitless and wasteful spending will be reported in Eskom’s annual report rather than in its annual financial statements.

The integrated report is tabled by the minister of public enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, in parliament. 

Eskom pledged to respect and co-operate with supervisory authorities, including the minister of public enterprises as its executive authority, the Treasury, the auditor-general, parliament and other relevant ministries. 

The BBC expressed outrage, saying it was an “irrational decision” that desperately seeks to shield the “incompetent former CEO of Eskom André de Ruyter from his lack of compliance with the PFMA. This makes a mockery of our beloved country.

“The BBC will seek an urgent meeting with the minister of finance and the deputy president [in his capacity] as leader of government business to raise this serious anomaly. 

“The BBC stands firm on transparency, openness and accountability. Exemptions in the legislation can’t be abused and be used willy-nilly to protect noncompliance by any individual or organ of state.” 

TimesLIVE

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