Widespread Cosatu protests target Eskom unbundling
Thousands demonstrate in eight cities across the country, disrupting schooling and bringing traffic to a standstill
Thousands of Cosatu-affiliated workers demonstrated in eight cities across the country on Wednesday, disrupting schooling and bringing traffic to a standstill. The workers downed tools, protesting for job security and a moratorium on retrenchments. They also took aim at government’s plans to unbundle Eskom, saying workers would oppose the decision, which was taken without consultation with organised labour. The organisation’s leaders, who were joined by the SA Communist Party (SACP), slammed the move to divide the power utility into three, saying it amounted to privatising Eskom and warning that it would lead to mass job losses. “Eskom is not for sale,” read some of the placards workers carried. In its memorandum, the trade union federation called for an immediate stop to what it described as the “privatisation of Eskom through renewable energy and closure of coal mines”. The federation has been opposing the independent power producers (IPP) programme for the production of renewable...
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