FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced that Eskom does not have to disclose its irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The struggling power utility received the notice of exemption on Friday, 1 April.
The move has received backlash from civic unions, organisations, labour unions and political parties.
They accused the Department of Finance of trying to cover corruption and fraud allegations that were highlighted by the former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter during a TV interview in February this year.
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South African Federation of Trade Unions' general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said this move does not surprise them.
"It is in line with their collective attempt to block any accountability on Eskom corruption and mismanagement; corruption and mismanagement that have consequently brought load shedding and continue to create conditions for implementation of load shedding into the future," he said.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said it would approach Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the matter, while ActionSA said it had instructed its legal team to interrogate the legality of the exemption.
Everest Wealth, a private investment and wealth management company, said the decision to exempt Eskom from disclosing and reporting irregular and fruitless expenditure will further undermine investor confidence and may also have other long-term consequences.
National Treasury's head of communications, Cleo Mosana said Eskom would report its expenditure in its annual report and not in its financial statement to ensure reporting transparency and accountability is not compromised and that it's still made public as currently required.
"Eskom is not exempted from ensuring that it takes effective and appropriate steps to prevent irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure," she said.
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