Eskom won’t be privatised, vows Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared selling Eskom to getting rid of the family silver.
Speaking at the Medupi Power Station in Limpopo on Tuesday, Ramaphosa reiterated that the government has no plans to privatise the struggling power utility.
Ramaphosa attended the commercialisation of Unit 2 of the coal-powered power station in Lephalale.
The president admitted that the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power plants, which have both been dogged by delays and cost-overruns, has left Eskom with debts of over R400 billion.
"We are not going to let Eskom go down, it is too important to the life of our country,” Ramaphosa said.
“So we are going to support Eskom even though we have a big debt."
Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer said the power utility will formally put Unit 2 at Medupi into commercial operation on Tuesday.
Medupi has six power units, of which four are already operational.
#Medupi is the first base load station to be built in 20 years by #Eskom after Majuba Power Station. This base-load power station was formerly known as Project Alpha and has since been named Medupi which means “rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief”. #Khawuleza pic.twitter.com/x2zjCvM5Ic
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) November 26, 2019
#Medupi is the first base load station to be built in 20 years by #Eskom after Majuba Power Station. This base-load power station was formerly known as Project Alpha and has since been named Medupi which means “rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief”. #Khawuleza pic.twitter.com/x2zjCvM5Ic
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) November 26, 2019
The President was briefed on the status of the project - #Medupi will be the world’s fourth largest coal-fired power station and once completed, it will be able generate enough electricity to power almost the whole of the Gauteng province pic.twitter.com/pszBXrlj8a
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) November 26, 2019