State power utility Eskom has paid R5.4 billion in performance incentives to its employees during the 2025 financial year, despite recording a profit only after receiving R64 billion in government debt relief.
The bonus payments come as South African households face double-digit electricity tariff increases and rising inflation.
According to the 2025 Eskom Integrated Report, the utility recorded a profit of R23.9 billion for the year. However, this figure was achieved after the company received R64 billion in taxpayer-funded debt relief from National Treasury.
The bonus allocation comprised R4.2 billion for the Group Short-Term Incentive Scheme and R1.2 billion in monthly production bonuses. The monthly production bonus payments represent a 200% increase from R0.4 billion paid in 2024.
With Eskom’s headcount standing at 42 030 employees, the total bonus payout amounts to an average of over R128 000 per employee.
The payments were made during a year in which Eskom achieved an Energy Availability Factor of 60.60%, a measure of power station performance that falls below international standards for power utilities.
Eskom’s workforce expanded by 1 405 employees year-on-year, according to the integrated report. Municipal arrear debt owed to the utility increased by 27% during the year to R94.6 billion.
The Democratic Alliance has called for the immediate suspension of the bonus payments and intervention by the Minister of Electricity and Energy.
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Kevin Mileham, the DA’s spokesperson on electricity and energy, said the bonus allocation was inappropriate for a state-owned utility that relied on government support to achieve profitability.
“A state-owned utility that only achieved an artificial profit of R23.9 billion thanks to a R64 billion taxpayer-funded debt relief package has no business siphoning off billions for bonuses,” Mileham said in a statement released on 01 May 2026.
The DA has demanded that the minister suspend the R4.2 billion short-term incentive payout and that Eskom leadership appear before the Portfolio Committee on Energy to account for the bonus expenditure.
The party has also called for funds earmarked for bonuses to be redirected to the eight million households currently eligible for but not receiving the free basic electricity allowance.
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