Eskom received parliamentary approval for its R254bn bailout after the House on Thursday passed the Eskom Debt Relief Bill -- but not before a bit of parliamentary sleight of hand.

The final vote was 198 for the Eskom Debt Relief Bill and 23 against, effectively scuppering an opposition attempt to sink the draft law because of the lack of a quorum in the House.

Such parliamentary moves signal the politics in the noxious mix of rolling blackouts, debt and corruption-troubled Eskom, and dipping deep into a tight national purse.

But the presiding officer, ANC MP Grace Boroto, was prepared for the DA's call for a division, or vote. With Rule 111 at hand, she invoked the check that at least four MPs must be in support. In rapid-fire, Boroto said there weren't four DA MPs in the House, and the online numbers didn't count. "At this stage, there is no vote... I have ruled."

But a point of order from DA Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube reversed this and clinched a vote after all. The rules of hybrid physical/online sittings give all MPs on the virtual platform the same rights as those actually sitting in the chamber.

But somewhere amid EFF interjections and opposition legislators leaving their seats and the online platform, the numbers went awry for a quorum manipulation. Not even an opposition-requested recount of ANC MPs that saw numbers...