South African state-owned power utility, Eskom, announced its projection of significantly narrowing net losses for the financial year ending March 2025. But the reduction in losses for this year remain marginal, and the national energy company continues to be fragile.

However, despite being on the verge of bankruptcy, Eskom has embarked on a multi-million-rand rebranding initiative. The company has initiated a tender to design logos and establish a new corporate identity for its three new subsidiaries: Generation, Transmission, and Distribution, as well as potential future Eskom Group entities. The tender involves a substantial budget of R5 million per entity, encompassing logo design, printed and digital materials, marketing assets, and online resources.

The decision to invest in rebranding has sparked criticism, given the substantial increase in electricity tariffs and the persistent threat of load shedding.

DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia provided the following statement on behalf of the opposition party, calling the rebranding "frivolous expenditure":

"The DA rejects, with the contempt that it deserves, a tender issued recently by Eskom in which they are asking suppliers to provide services for the design of a new logo and the development of a new corporate identity [...] Eskom’s response to consumer pleas that they cannot no longer afford the entity’s expensive tariffs, after they imposed a 31,4% tariff increase early this year, is to go and fish for a fresh new look to match their new windfall."

As South Africans grapple with energy challenges, Eskom's allocation of resources to rebranding raises questions about its commitment to resolving critical issues in the power sector.

During a press conference, Eskom's interim CEO, Calib Cassim, indicated that the company was likely to report a net loss of 23.22billion rand ($1.24 billion) for the financial year concluding in March 2024. Cassim expressed optimism, stating that "March '24 should be the last year we have significant losses. It should then drop significantly in 2025."

Eskom had reported a loss of 23.94 billion rand for the previous financial year, which concluded in March 2023. The 100-year-oldcompany, South Africa's monopoly power supplier, relies heavily on a fleet of15 coal-fired plants to provide power to the country. However, years of corruption, limited tariff increases, and challenges in collecting payments from municipalities have burdened Eskom with substantial debt.

This financial strain has left the utility with limited funds for maintaining aging power plants and necessitated the implementation of daily power cuts. Eskom has, at times, imposed outages of up to 10 hours a day, impacting economic growth and sparking public frustration. Although the duration of power cuts has recently been reduced to 2 hours per day, the situation remains a critical concern.

Cassim attributed Eskom's ongoing high net losses to lower electricity production, elevated diesel expenses, and unpaid dues from municipalities. He anticipates improvements in these areas in 2024. The government's commitment to releasing funds, pledged in February to absorb over half of Eskom's debt, will enhance the company's financial stability and support the maintenance of power plants to bolster output.

Eskom's primary focus is on operational recovery to improve financial performance, combat corruption and criminal activity, and establish distinct entities for transmission and distribution. The separation of the transmission company will be finalized by the end of March 2024, according to Cassim, who emphasized the need for Eskom to deliver on its commitments to the organization and the country.

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