International consultants from a consortium of five Germany-based companies are reviewing Eskom's operations. At least some of their recommendations must be implemented before the troubled power utility can access its R254bn bailout as announced in the 2023 Budget.
It was the direct question, "Who are they?" from Parliament's public spending watchdog Scopa chairperson, IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa, that finally got MPs some answers amid the "best team" rah-rah talk by National Treasury Deputy Director-General Duncan Pieterse to an EFF question about the international consultants.
The National Treasury on Tuesday briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on state-owned entities' bailouts -- R329-billion over the past decade, with Eskom the biggest benefactor while rotational power cuts have left South Africans without electricity for up to 10 hours every day in 2023.
Pieterse's response, however, was less than the 132-word public statement put out by the international consortium's leader, vgbe energy, on 7 March, confirming its appointment for "independent assessment of the operational situation" at Eskom, with Dornier Power and Heat GmbH, KWS Energy Knowledge eG, RWE Technology International GmbH and Steag GmbH.
"The services provided by vgbe energy and its partners include a review of all coal-fired power plants with regard...
