AS the presidency is criticised for “dragging its feet” in appointing the new ministry of electricity to address the power crisis - Eskom helped sponsor a major Cape Town event days after it received another government bailout.
Eskom yesterday announced a R2.1 million sponsorship of a festival that took place in Cape Town over the weekend - days after National Treasury announced it would take over part of its debt with a R254 billion bailout.
Impatience is growing over who will take up the new electricity minister position as stage 6 load shedding takes its toll on the economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement during Sona earlier this month. Yesterday evening, Eskom announced that the power utility would implement stage five from Sunday morning.
This as businesses continue to warn that power outages were costing the country’s economy at least R4b a day.
President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Jacques Moolman said what was clear from the budget speech was that the government was more concerned about saving Eskom than saving businesses crippled by the ongoing energy crisis.
"In the minister's speech we got chapter and verse about the R254bn Eskom debt relief arrangement . But we did not see detailed financial provision for some of the promised reforms and intervention - the new ministry being a case in point.
"We know that the government will finance the debt relief arrangement through the R66bn baseline provision announced in 2019 and an additional R118bn in additional borrowings, but why did the minister not spell out the provision for the key intervention in resolving the Eskom crisis,“ he added.
Moolman said if the silence on the new ministry and its budget was an omission, "then it was an unfortunate one" because the country desperately needs to sense political urgency in ending load shedding".
The presidency’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya said the ministry would be funded and it would be for the National Treasury to provide clarity. But would not respond to when an appointment would be made.
Cabinet ministers and government officials also remained coy about the new ministry.
Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele said because of the "unique nature" of the post, it was up to the president to choose when to announce the new minister.
"Normally the details of a new cabinet post are announced shortly after a decision has been made," he added.
However, acting government spokesperson Michael Currin urged the public to be patient as the processes usually took time.
"At the right time the president will make the announcement. I don"t think he will change his mind on the announcement. I would think that he wants to make sure that we get a specialised Minister who will make a good contribution towards resolving the crisis".
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula was also not forthcoming about when the announcement of the new minister and a cabinet reshuffle would be made.
"Ideally it should happen by the end of the month. But it's the prerogative of the President to make the announcement. There's no time frame," said Mbalula.
Former Director General of National Treasury and now CEO of Moti Group, Dan Mogajane speculated that funding would be made through budget reallocations in the two ministries who had legislated responsibilities for Eskom, Energy and Public Enterprises.
However Mogajane pointed out that the new ministry was not expected to cost taxpayers a huge amount of money and would likely need a few support staff and a few advisers with costs estimated to be around R20m to R40m.
"The administrative costs of the Presidency are around R540 million and because this new ministry is expected to be small, its administrative costs should not be high".
"The fact that there was no mention of a budget is nothing to worry about“
Mogajane said a reliable energy supply remained the real key to unlocking South Africa’s economic recovery, so resolving the problems at Eskom was critical to boosting business confidence and encouraging new investments into the economy.
"Energy is one of the country’s greatest risks, and we now need to see the implementation of plans to enhance Eskom’s performance and improve existing power supply,” he said.
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) said it remained opposed to the creation of the proposed new ministry of electricity.
"We don't understand the rationale behind the creation of the new post. All we need is for the Ministers responsible for energy and public enterprises to be held accountable for the electricity crisis. Let them deal with it," BUSA president Cas Coovadia.
Moolman also slammed the budget as an indication of government failing and a "dogged determination to prop up" ailing state owned enterprises.
Weekend Argus