Question NW1577 to the Minister of Finance

Reply:

a) The National Treasury has engaged with the Auditor-General and considered all public comments received through Government Gazette General Notice No. 3270 of 6 April 2023 which withdrew the Government Gazette General Notice No. 3247 of 31 March 2023 and invited public comment on a proposed exemption for Eskom. In total, fifty-six (56) comments were received, with twenty-three (23) comments received in formal correspondence and thirty-three (33) comments received through emails, covering a broad spectrum of accounting and reporting, auditing, governance, legal principles, and public interest issues have been duly considered. The National Treasury also engaged with audit firms, professional auditing and accounting bodies, a rating agency, and other relevant authorities to discuss the challenges and seemingly onerous compliance reporting requirements applicable to State-Owned Entities such as Eskom.

b) The consultation methods used for the consultations were in the form of online stakeholder engagement meetings, webinars, media statements and Government Gazette Notice for public comments. Please refer to the attached media statement dated 7 June 2023, in which the Minister of Finance has determined that Eskom not be granted a partial exemption from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1, from disclosing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and material losses from criminal conduct in its Annual Financial Statements.