Eskom unbundling not privatisation, Ramaphosa stresses
Updated Aug. 13, 2026, 2:42 p.m. | By Cliff Shiko President Cyril Ramaphosa says the unbundling of Eskom is not about privatising the power utility, but…
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Updated Aug. 13, 2026, 2:42 p.m. | By Cliff Shiko
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the unbundling of Eskom is not about privatising the power utility, but about creating greater competition in the electricity sector.
The move has faced opposition from trade unions, who believe the power utility is being gradually sold off.
The government’s unbundling plan involves splitting the state-owned power utility into three separate entities, each responsible for generation, transmission and distribution.
Ramaphosa was speaking at a business breakfast hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa, SEIFSA, in Kempton Park on Thursday.
"We're not privatising anything, particularly when it comes to the electricity sector. What we are doing is to restructure Eskom, so that Eskom becomes much more competitive and we bring in other players. So, Eskom remains a state-owned enterprise," Ramaphosa stressed.
The President said government was moving towards a competitive electricity market in which multiple generators would compete to supply electricity.
"Meaning that we have now gone past just the efficient generation. We now must move to an era where there's competition which will help to bring down prices," he added.
He also said this would help in dealing with Eskom's huge debt.
The entity's total legacy debt sits at nearly R300 billion, with municipalities owing Eskom more than R110.5 billion.
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