Eskom Holdings' gross debt surged to R480-billion, after the struggling State-owned power utility borrowed from its lines of credit, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
The increase, from a previously disclosed level of R454-billion, comes as the company struggles to meet running costs, including a debt-service bill, despite a government bailout. Inadequate maintenance of its aging power plants led to rolling nationwide blackouts earlier this month.
ADVERTISEMENT
Over the past year, Eskom clinched a R15-billion syndicated loan with commercial banks, a R7-billion loan from the China Development Bank and a R5-billion facility from South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, the documents show.
Eskom declined to comment on a query about its debt level. 
Leave a Reply