Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said Eskom has spent billions on diesel. File Picture: Kopano Tlape/GCIS
Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has revealed that Eskom has spent R64.7 billion on diesel in the past five years, with more money spent in the last two financial periods. Eskom spent R5.8bn in the 2019/2020 period and R5.76bn in the 2023/24 financial year, but load shedding continued to impact electricity supply, leading to more diesel expenditure.
In the 2021/2022 financial year, Eskom spent R8.60bn burning diesel, but the expenditure more than doubled in the following year after Eskom allocated R21.25bn for diesel. However, Eskom's continued implementation of load shedding led to spending R23.38 in the 2023/24 financial year. Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa denied this and said the work has led to more energy security. The country needs R390 billion for grid expansion in the next decade, with more transmission lines needed in the coastal provinces of the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape.
