Outages to wage deal may spur Eskom to borrow extra R45bn

South Africa’s indebted power utility may need to borrow an extra R45-billion to purchase diesel and pay inflation-beating salaries to workers, according to S&P Global Ratings. That’s a 50% increase from S&P’s borrowing forecast for Eskom Holdings in November, according to Omega Collocott, director of corporate ratings for South Africa at the company. The utility had a funding plan of R24.4-billion for the year to March, according to a company presentation in November.