Treasury withdraws controversial Eskom exemption
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GUEST – Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana & Israel Noko, CEO of NPI governance consulting
Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana says the exemption granted to Eskom allowing it not to disclose irregular and wasteful expenditures in its financial reports will not go ahead “for now”. Godongwana said the department would withdraw the gazette after consultation with the auditor general (AG) yesterday, 4 April, and the widespread public outcry. However, the minister alluded to the possibility of the exemption being reintroduced in the future. He said that the department will have a detailed consultation with the AG, Deloitte’s and Eskom’s auditors to tighten checks and balances for corruption. On Friday, Treasury published a gazette exempting Eskom from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the PFMA and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 for a period of three years. Treasury explained that the exemption was given for several reasons, but primarily to protect the embattled power utility’s credit rating and audit opinion, which would have had a knock-on effect on the power utility’s financials and loans.
Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana says the exemption granted to Eskom allowing it not to disclose irregular and wasteful expenditures in its financial reports will not go ahead “for now”. Godongwana said the department would withdraw the gazette after consultation with the auditor general (AG) yesterday, 4 April, and the widespread public outcry. However, the minister alluded to the possibility of the exemption being reintroduced in the future. He said that the department will have a detailed consultation with the AG, Deloitte’s and Eskom’s auditors to tighten checks and balances for corruption. On Friday, Treasury published a gazette exempting Eskom from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the PFMA and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 for a period of three years. Treasury explained that the exemption was given for several reasons, but primarily to protect the embattled power utility’s credit rating and audit opinion, which would have had a knock-on effect on the power utility’s financials and loans.
