South African state power utility Eskom has recorded a whopping net loss of about 23.9 billion rand ($1.27 billion) for the financial year that ended in March 2023 from a revised 11.9 billion rand loss the previous year.
A release posted on X formerly Twitter showed that arrears by municipalities rose to 58.5 billion rand ($3.09billion) in 2023 from the previous 44. 8 billion rand.
It said government debt relief announced was about 254 billion rand ($13.53 billion).
This year Eskom has implemented the worst power cuts on record in Africa’s most industrialised economy, with outages of up to 10 hours a day curbing economic growth and fuelling public frustration.
South Africa’s government has pledged to split Eskom into three subsidiaries to try to make it more efficient. In February it agreed to take on more than half its total debt to bolster its finances.
