Private sector set to eat Eskom’s lunch

JOHANNESBURG - The National Council of Provinces has passed the Eskom Debt Relief Bill.

It will see National Treasury absorb over half the utility's R400-billion debt.

READ: "Throwing money at Eskom won't solve the problem": analyst

But this may increase still after a 7 percent wage hike was agreed to last week.

Economist Dawie Roodt says these are signs of privatisation.

He says the utility's incompetence has opened the doors to the private sector.

READ: Eskom debt relief bill | NCOP gives legislation thumbs up

"The private sector is simply taking over those functions, the same is happening here to Eskom, and you're right, it was a stop/go kind of process," he said.

"Initially, the private sector was limited in how much electricity they can generate, today they can generate as much as they like.

"So that's what I mean, the private sector is simply taking over the functions of Eskom, pretty much the same as the private sector is taking over functions of local authorities in many instances and in that sense it is being privatised."