Banks and other lenders had given the government an ultimatum to replace the Eskom board by November and that of arms manufacturer Denel by December or have their credit facilities withdrawn, Treasury officials said on Wednesday.
An Eskom default has been flagged as the single biggest risk to the economy, with Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba saying in his Wednesday briefing to journalists at Parliament that the government would be unable to bail it out should lenders refuse to roll over their loans.
"Eskom exposes government to an enormous risk because of the size of its guarantee framework, the size of the loans and the debt it has. Obviously if anything went bust in that regard it would have an immediate impact on the national balance sheet," he said.
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