National Assembly passes bill aimed at unbundling of Eskom

The bill is aimed at paving the way for the unbundling of Eskom.

It provides for the creation of a transmission system operator and an open market platform that allows for competitive electricity trading.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his State of the Nation address that Eskom would be unbundled to allow competition.

On Thursday, 234 MPs voted in favour of the bill, while 25 EFF MPs rejected the bill saying it will lead to privatisation of Eskom.

The bill will now be taken to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence, before being taken to the president to be signed into law. 

The South African Federation Trade Unions (Saftu) previously rejected the bill, saying the framework is aimed at privatising energy provision.

"Saftu is opposed to the liberalisation of the energy generation market, the unbundling of Eskom and the dismantling of Eskom," said the federation's Zwelinzima Vavi.

"Eskom as a vertically integrated public electricity producing company, and the public provision of energy must be protected from the private sector. The private sector will turn the provision of energy into a site for profit making."

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