Social partners in the National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac) - the government, business and labour - have agreed to a review of Eskom's load-shedding schedule to minimise disruption to firms and households.
They have also pledged to help Eskom to collect what it is owed by moving all its customers, including businesses and households, to prepaid meters, and getting government departments and municipalities to pay the R37bn they owe the utility.
According to a social compact on Eskom signed by all parties to Nedlac this week, all of this must happen within the next three months.
However, a proposal by Cosatu to dip into public servants' pensions to help reduce Eskom's R480bn debt has been rejected. Instead, the social partners have committed to "jointly mobilising adequate financial resources for Eskom" over the next 12 months, in a "financially sustainable manner to ensure the country's fiscal resilience, and in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the financial system, including institutional investment".
Cosatu initially proposed that R250bn be sought from the R2-trillion held by the Public Investment Corp on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund, and assets of private retirement funds, to reduce Eskom's debt to R200bn.
It toned down the plan amid concerted pushback from retirement funds and the labour federation's public sector affiliates, which feared the erosion of members' retirement savings.
Cosatu's parliamentary co-ordinator, Matthew Parks, said the proposal was motivated by the need to save 44,000 jobs at Eskom and stave off the possible collapse of the utility under the weight of its debt.
He said Cosatu agreed with other partners at Nedlac that Eskom first has to stop the bleeding, which would include containing corrupt and wasteful expenditure, renegotiating onerous coal contracts, restructuring its bloated top structure and collecting what consumers, including the government and municipalities, owe.
"Social partners have agreed to collectively mobilise every possible financial support for Eskom", including additional relief from the government and support from institutions such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corp, he said.
Martin Kingston, who represents business at Nedlac, said Cosatu's proposal was rejected because any capital mobilisation should be done with due regard to the fiduciary duties of the financial institutions identified, taking into account the principle of risk-adjusted returns, and without compromising the integrity of the financial sector.
He said business had agreed to approach local and international impact investment funds that support projects aimed at cutting carbon emissions about helping Eskom meet expenses related to renewable energy.
Kingston said business still believed the state, not retirement funds, should relieve Eskom of part of its debt. "The only party that can assume that debt is the state. Nobody will distinguish between Eskom servicing that debt and the state servicing it."
On the mass installation of prepaid meters, Parks said it was not sustainable for the 40% of consumers now without meters to continue to ignore their Eskom bills. "This will spark a crisis. All consumers must be on prepaid meters."
The community constituent of Nedlac has committed to reviving the Masakhane campaign to get grassroots buy-in for prepaid meters, removal of illegal connections and the payment of debts to Eskom.
