Eskom had a long tough road to recovery after severe bouts of load shedding which at times reached stage 6, breakdowns in generation capacity and financial bailouts.
Eskom says the passing of the Eskom Debt Relief Act in 2023 provided R254 billion to significantly reduce the financial pressure on the utility’s balance sheet.
Stability
According to the utility, the results of its Generation Recovery Plan, which commenced in April 2023, enabled the country to return from the holiday break to a structurally stronger system entering 2026 than in five years, with an additional 4 400MW of capacity available compared to this time last year.
“Stability is reflected not only in terms of structural improvements in the generation fleet, but in fewer emergency interventions and improved maintenance discipline,” Eskom said.
Long road
However, the power utility had a long, tough road to recovery after severe bouts of load shedding, which at times reached stage 6, breakdowns in generation capacity and financial bailouts.
The days of Eskom receiving further bailouts from the government ended in October last year when Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced the power utility’s annual financial results for the financial year 2025 (FY2025) at MegaWatt Park.
Eskom recorded a pretax profit of R23.9 billion for the year ended March 2025, which is a sharp turnaround from the R25.5 billion loss in 2024.
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Profitability
The state-owned entity, which marked its first return to profitability since 2017, followed the government’s R254 billion debt relief package allocated to Eskom over three years, with the current financial year, 2025, being the final one.
By March 2025, Eskom received a total of R140 billion in support since the implementation of the Eskom Debt Relief Act of 2023.
Bailouts
Eskom Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane said on Monday that the bailouts have helped the utility.
“This enabled Eskom to make vital investments and conduct planned and preventative maintenance, improving operational efficiency and reliability, the results of which South Africa is experiencing today.
“A reliable power system is not just measured in megawatts (MW); it is measured in investor confidence. The impact of Eskom’s improved performance has contributed towards South Africa receiving its first credit rating upgrade in two decades, and the risk rating associated with Eskom’s 2033 bonds has dropped, providing early indicators to investors warming to the turnaround, said Marokane.
Load shedding
Eskom’s load shedding strangled the country’s economic growth for more than a decade, and its repeated bailouts drained the state’s coffers.
Municipal debt, however, remains the biggest threat to Eskom’s future.
Municipal arrear debt stood at R94.6 billion as of 31 March 2025 – a 27% increase from the previous year (2024: R74.4 billion).
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