Godongwana withdraws Eskom's irregular spend exemption

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has succumbed to pressure and has withdrawn the exemption granted to power utility Eskom from disclosing its irregular expenditure.

A government gazette of March 31 stated Eskom would be exempt from having to disclose in its annual reports of irregular, fruitless or wasteful expenditure for three years, starting from the financial year that ended in March.

After the decision was made public, there was public outcry with many questioning the rationale behind the decision.

Godongwana was summoned to Parliament by five committees - the public accounts watchdog (Scopa), finance, appropriations, auditor-general and the public enterprises.

"... We take it as a positive step because part of the challenges of grey listing is effectiveness and our inability to deal with corruption.

"The intention is to allow Eskom to have better financial statements," he said.