A plan proposed by South Africa’s biggest labor group to get pension funds and state lenders to refinance part of the state power utility’s gargantuan debt faces hurdles that may be impossible to overcome. Under the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ so-called social compact, Eskom Holdings R454-billion of debt will be cut to R200-billion, with the balance transferred to a specially created entity. That will be funded by the Public Investment Corporation, which manages civil servants’ pensions, private retirement funds, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Industrial Development Corp. and other investors.
