ANC eyeing pension assets, an indication country will pay for Eskom – DA
South Africans will be made to foot the bill for the power utility according to the party.
On the up: The ANC hoisted a giant New Year’s banner bearing the face of Cyril Ramaphosa, credited with reviving party fortunes after the scandal-hit era of Jacob Zuma. AFP/RAJESH JANTILAL
The Democratic Alliance said the ANC’s manifesto launch over the weekend indicated the ANC did not see issues at Eskom as a threat to the country’s financial position.
They said the fact that the ANC mentioned Eskom only as a throw-away comment, “as if the country’s financial stability does not hang the balance”, showed that the country was being made to pay for the ANC’s inability to fix Eskom.
“It is clear that the ANC is not looking at reforming the utility that has for many years been the primary source for looting by the governing party. In fact, the manifesto explores the idea to use private savings, investments, and hard-earned pension funds to keep Eskom running, or to keep [the] looting pot full for now. That means that ordinary South Africans’ pensions and savings could very well be used to settle the debt that Eskom has raked up under the ANC.”
The ANC is eyeing the notion of prescribed assets, meaning money managers will be forced to invest a portion of their funds in state-mandated areas.
According to the manifesto, the ANC will “investigate the introduction of prescribed assets on financial institutions’ funds to mobilise funds within a regulatory framework for socially productive investments and job creation while considering the risk profiles of the affected entities”.
The DA said it was clear Eskom was planning on increasing its debt to R600 billion in the next three years.
The utility has already been dubbed junk status and the ANC now wants ordinary citizens to foot the bill for their lack of planning, while the country is on the verge of blackouts, the DA said in a statement, adding that institutions have lost all confidence to lend Eskom money.
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