The shutdown of numerous nuclear reactors for checks and repairs is behind the concerns of a lack of electricity this winter in France
AFP

The government of South Africa is currently in a rush to arrange cash to buy diesel in order to prevent massive power cuts in the country. This came after energy firm Eskom said that it was short of funds to get the auxiliary power units working.

Pravin Gordhan, minister for public enterprises, held an urgent meeting with the board of state-owned energy firm Eskom on Sunday, said the ministry in an official statement as reported by the AFP.

"The [ministry] is urgently working with National Treasury and Eskom for it to find the money to buy supplies of diesel," the statement read.

On Monday, Eskom said that it was short of funds to buy diesel reserves for the financial year ending on Mar. 31, 2023.

"The little stock we have is being preserved carefully for dire emergencies," spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha was quoted as saying.

South Africa, which is the most industrialized nation in the continent, has been subjected to a huge number of power outages this year, the chief culprit being the old coal-fired plants that Eskom employs to generate power. Forced by circumstances, Eskom has now been forced to run turbines that run on diesel to meet peak demands and fuel growth.

Eskom is already deeply in debt and has been running on losses for some years. The company has already spent more than 11 billion rands ($634 million) on fuel, said Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer last week. The electricity shortages may get worse if funds to buy diesel run out, he had warned.

The firm is in the middle of talks with the Department of Public Enterprises, Eskom said. However, the group refused to give details on its diesel stocks. Blackouts have been plaguing South Africa for some time now, and the number reached new heights in 2022. This shortage had forced the firm to turn to diesel, but the loss-making unit was further strapped for money in trying to sustain the new diesel power machines.

"We do not have money to burn diesel anymore," Oberholzer said last week. The company has spent more than 12 billion rands ($690 million) on fuel so far in 2022.