page_title: Eskom
section_title: Post-1994 election period: 1994-2007
hierarchical_section_title: Eskom / History / Post-1994 election period: 1994-2007
caption_attribution_description: English: Medupi power station at Lephalale, Limpopo, South Africa
context_page_description: Eskom is a South African electricity public utility, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission and also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie, by the South African Government and people of the Republic of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act. South Africa became a Republic in the 1960s. Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, and was among the top utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and sales, but has since slipped in both categories. It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises. Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa. The company is divided into Generation, Transmission and Distribution divisions and together Eskom generates approximately 95% of electricity used in South Africa, amounting to ~45% used in Africa, and emits 42% of South Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions.
context_section_description: Following democratic elections in 1994 and the start of the Mandela government the company changed focus to electrification of previously neglected residential homes and to provide low cost electricity for economic growth.  Following the passing of the 1998 Eskom Amendment Act government's powers to influence company policy and investment decisions were greatly expanded. Due to the South African government's attempted privatisation of Eskom in the late 1990s during the administration of President Thabo Mbeki, Eskom requests for budget to build new stations were denied. After leaving the presidency Mbeki would later state in December 2007 that this was an error resulting in adverse affects for the South African economy.
caption: Construction work on the Medupi (pictured) and Kusile coal-fired power stations was started in the 2007-2019 period as part of Eskom's capacity expansion program following the energy crisis.
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