Date: April 8, 2023
Enoch Godongwana, Minister of Finance, has announced the withdrawal of the exemption for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd according to the Government Notice No. 3247 of 31 March 2023 [2]. This decision was made in terms of Section 92 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) [1].
In addition, the Minister invites public comments on a proposed exemption for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd from including particulars of irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in its financial statements for a period of three financial years, as required by section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Act and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 [3]. The comments should preferably focus on the technical aspects of the proposed exemption, such as the applicable accounting principles and oversight and preventive measures to reduce the scope of corruption.
The public is invited to submit their comments to OAGqueries@treasury.gov.za by April 21, 2023. By making a submission, commentators agree that their name and the submission may be made public by the National Treasury, and the submission will be disclosed if requested under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 [3].
This decision comes after the Minister of Finance had initially granted a partial exemption to Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd on 31st March 2023, from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 for a period of three years, while declining exemptions under sections 55(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the PFMA [7]. The exemption still required Eskom to disclose financial and non-financial information in its financial statements.