Business piles pressure on Ramaphosa over Eskom’s revised unbundling

South Africa’s business leaders have warned President Cyril Ramaphosa that Eskom’s revised unbundling plans put billions of rand of investment in the national grid at risk, a call that could force him to choose between business concerns or backing his electricity & energy minister. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa in December drew the ire of business when he approved a revised unbundling strategy for Eskom. Under the revised unbundling road map, the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) will remain a subsidiary of Eskom Holdings and will continue to own the transmission assets while the Transmission System Operator (TSO) will be set up outside Eskom to handle system and market operation.

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and Business Unity South Africa have now written to Ramaphosa warning him of investor angst over the revised plan. The two business bodies are also not buying Eskom’s story that the revised unbundling plan is financially sound.