Red faces over Eskom bungle

Zimbabwe's Energy Minister Fortune Chasi has been forced to put the proof of the country's US$10m payment to Eskom on his Twitter account, after an earlier claim of having paid was refuted. Two week’s ago Chasi said his government would pay the debt to the SA power utility to ease power shortages. However, by Friday, the funds had not yet reflected in Eskom’s account. A report on the Fin24 site notes that Eskom CEO Phakamani Hadebe, issued a statement saying the power utility, which is owed a total of US$33m by its Zimbabwean counterpart, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), was yet to receive the money. Chasi took the highly unusual step of posting proof of payment to the SA power utility on his Twitter account. Eskom subsequently confirmed that the payment was reflecting in its account. 'Discussions will continue with Zesa to find a mutually beneficial solution to the outstanding debt. Eskom is a commercial operation and will be guided by the contracts we have in place with Zesa,' it said in a statement.