Keeping the lights on: Eskom Chairman outlines road to sustainability
After years of rolling blackouts and public frustration, Eskom has turned a corner. Load shedding has dropped sharply – from 84 days in the first eight months of last year to just 17 in the same period this year – and the utility is now in a position of excess energy. But questions remain about the longevity of this progress, Eskom’s financial future and the role of renewable energy in South Africa’s evolving power mix.
These issues were unpacked in the latest PSG Think Big webinar, hosted by award-winning journalist Alishia Seckam, with Eskom Chairman Mteto Nyati. The PSG Think Big series is aimed at promoting open dialogue and stimulating critical engagement on some of the country’s most pressing issues.
Nyati, who took up the role in 2022 alongside a new board, said Eskom’s turnaround is the result of a carefully planned and executed recovery strategy. “We’ve done a lot of changes – we supported new management and came up with a two-year generation recovery plan. By March 2025, we wanted to be at the energy availability factor of 70%. Today, we are exactly at that. In fact, on many days, we’ve been above 70%.”
Asked what changed under his leadership, Nyati credited a return to basics, one which is regular maintenance. This includes regular direct engagement with original equipment manufacturers, tighter budgeting for spares and strict adherence to maintenance schedules. “Discipline is something that we have brought back into Eskom.” He also attributed ensuring capable leadership and alignment with Eskom’s values to drive a high performance culture.
Nyati noted that between independent power producers (IPPs) and households, South Africa now has “close to about 12 000 megawatts of renewables. Responding to criticism that Eskom has signed high-cost IPP contracts, Nyati stressed that earlier contracts were signed at globally high solar costs at the time, but “what we’re signing now is cheap. If you want to be driving down the cost of energy in South Africa, that’s the route we need to be taking, which is what we are doing.”
Eskom’s own cost structure has also come under scrutiny. “Our big focus within Eskom right now is to take cost out of our production. So, we’ve set up a core programme called Cost Optimisation and Revenue Enhancement. Over five years, we want to be taking out R112 billion of costs.”
On tariff increases, Nyati said that Eskom has reached the tipping point. “In fact, as the board, we are very clear that going forward, we should not see tariff increases that are above CPI.” This aligns with Eskom’s next big mission of affordability. “We are done with energy security. The next drive is energy affordability. That is what we are focussing on,” said Nyati. He also addressed competition concerns as private electricity traders enter the market saying that policy changes are required in order to “level the playing fields”.
In terms of Eskom’s future business model, Nyati said clean energy is a growing priority. “Base load comes from your nuclear, hydro and coal but our strategic drive is to make sure that we provide clean energy in South Africa.” He added, “That is the space that you are going to be finding us occupying and competing in.”
Finally, Nyati credited political alignment as a factor in Eskom’s turnaround. “You need a minister that is aligned to the board and a board that is aligned to management. If you’ve got that alignment, you are not going to get anything wrong.”
As Eskom prepares to announce its financial results, he said the utility is moving closer to reaching its goals. “Ultimately, our priority is to make sure that we leave behind a sustainable organisation, one that is not going to go back to the taxpayer and beg to bail us out. Which means we need to be able to stand on our own two feet.”
