Power utility Eskom spent R29 million in one year on items like milk, toilet paper, cleaning products and bottled water.
Eskom: R16.9 Million Spent
  • Eskom had spent almost R17 million on milk alone in the 2019/20 financial year according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan 
  • This power utility has managed to halve its spending on consumables from R29 million to R15.6 million 
  • A forensic investigation into the power producer revealed that it was spending R56 per two-litre of milk 
But in the past financial year, the power utility has managed to cut this by almost 50% to R15.6 million.

This spending on the basket of consumables has been revealed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in a written parliamentary reply on Wednesday.

The debt-ridden power utility’s most costly consumable, according to Gordhan, was milk, which cost the struggling power utility R16.9 million in the 2019/2020 financial year.

But this was cut to just over R7 million the following year due to cost-cutting measures at the cash-strapped parastatal.

Gordhan was responding to DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia who asked him about recurring consumables such as bottled water, toilet paper, milk and cleaning products and how these affect Eskom’s bottom-line.

Gordan said a total of 1,646 transactions were identified between 1 April 2020 to 28 February 2021.

He said the spending on the recurring products would not affect Eskom’s finances as they amounted to less than 0.01% of spending.

Gordhan was also asked about the South African Airways spending on the same products but said this information was outstanding and would be submitted it as soon as it became available.