South African power company bosses suspended over severe power cuts

Eskom, South Africa's power utility company has suspended 4 of its executives following the increasing power outage the country has witnessed in recent times, BBC reports.

The suspended executives include company Chief Executive Officer Tshediso Matona who was appointed less than eight months ago.

Speaking with journalists, company chairman Zola Tsotsi said the move was in the best interest of company stakeholders even as an inquiry lasting 3 months would be set up to look into poor generation capacity, cash-flow issues and other problems.

Eskom, which provides almost all of the electricity in South Africa has come under fire in recent months over a seeming lack of maintenance at the country's power plants.

The company says it needs an estimated $20bn (about N3.9 trillion) to solve its problems even as the government has offered an initial bailout of $2bn, which will be paid out in tranches.