Chairperson, thank you to hon Mazzone, Eskom remains a strategic entity of government and indeed, of the people of South Africa. And support of the shareholder is critical while the company remains in financial and operational difficulty as well.
The government support is currently expressed both in the R350 billion guarantee that government through the Treasury has extended and the R23 billion per annum equity that I referred to earlier as announced by the Minister of Finance in the budget.
Government has extended the time frames of the Eskom guarantee, not the guarantee amount. The time frames of the Eskom guarantee to 2023, in order that it can have the backing of government to borrow money once stability is restored. Eskom has not requested government for the increase in the guarantee itself.