Eskom has defended its plans to upgrade its head offices in Johannesburg, arguing that it was long overdue.
The utility has been criticised for its plans to refurbish the offices at a cost of at least R500 million.
The DA planned to write to the chairperson on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Themba Godi demanding Eskom executives urgently be summoned to Parliament over the proposed upgrades.
Earlier this year, the power utility revealed that it was facing financial difficulty, but has since confirmed that its cash flow was “very stable”.
However, Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said the upgrade was necessary and the utility could not postpone it any longer.
“The building is 35 years old and hasn’t had a refurbishment in that time,” he said. “At the moment, the building is in violation of health and safety requirements and we can’t postpone this any longer,” he said.
“We need to go ahead with this. The building needs to be fundamentally refurbished to make it healthy, safe and energy efficient.”
According to Etzinger, the building’s façade had begun crumbling and the air-conditioning was seeping fibre glass which posed a health threat.
