No guarantee power will stay on, Eskom now says
The power utility says it is doing its best to ensure capacity meets demand during labour unrest
Power utility Eskom now says it is not able to give guarantees that power supplies in the country will not be disrupted during labour unrest over wages. On Thursday, thousands of workers affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA will embark on nationwide lunch-time pickets. The employees are protesting against the company’s 0% wage increase offer and have demanded 15%, while Solidarity members tabled 9%. Wage negotiations deadlocked last week. Operations at nine Eskom power stations were disrupted on Wednesday, as some employees took part in an illegal strike, barricading and intimidating nonstriking colleagues. The affected stations include Camden, Arnot, Matla, Hendrina, Komati, Grootvlei and Duvha, all based in Mpumalanga. “With those amounts of stations we certainly cannot give a guarantee that the security of supply is not under threat,” said Eskom executive for risk and sustainability Thava Govender. “It’s a challenge and we a...
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