South Africa’s National Treasury is seeking to hire a legal firm to advise it on how to reorganize the R396-billion debt burden held by national power utility Eskom Holdings, people familiar with the situation said. A request for proposals from the firms was issued recently, according to one of the people. It comes as the department continues with technical work it began in March on how to deal with the debt that’s left the utility reliant on state handouts to survive. Eskom doesn’t earn sufficient revenue to cover its running costs and interest payments, and the company has subjected the country to intermittent power outages since 2008 because it can’t meet demand. The people asked not to be identified as a public statement has not been made.
