Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has told Parliament that Eskom has spent a cumulative R65 billion on diesel over the last five years.
The power utility has been using diesel for years as it fights to keep the lights on to minimize load shedding.
Gordhan revealed the diesel expenditure in a written parliamentary reply to a question from the Democratic Alliance (DA).
This also comes as Eskom enters 29 days with no power cuts.
Gordhan was asked whether considering Eskom’s reliance on diesel for its open cycle gas turbines to plug the gap, how much the utility had spent on diesel since May 2019.
In his reply, Gordhan said 2024 saw the most diesel use at R23 billion, slightly more than the previous year which stood at R21 billion.
DA public enterprises spokesperson Mimmy Gondwa said burning diesel means Eskom has not turned the corner.
“With this latest revelation, [Electricity] Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s claim that Eskom has turned a corner is completely false because burning diesel can never be a permanent solution to the load shedding crisis.”
Gordhan also revealed that Eskom has five diesel suppliers, namely PetroSA, Astron, Shell, BP and Engen.
-EWN
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