Sunday Times reports that Eskom chairman Jabu Mabuza said last week that it was unsustainable for the power utility to have to borrow money in order to repay the money it already owed funders and that it was working on a plan to restructure itself.  

This plan will be made public in September.  In order to become self-sustaining Mabuza said Eskom had no choice but to cut its debt load.  It also had to cut its other costs, the biggest of which were coal procurement and staff expenses.  Eskom has a bloated staff complement, which Mabuza said the utility would address when it released the restructuring plan in September.  Pressed on whether there would be any job losses, Mabuza said studies the utility had conducted revealed it had 33% more people than was necessary.  "But we are dealing with the issue of wage increases right now.  We have agreed that it would not be fair for management to raise the matter of restructuring while we are talking salary increases," said Mabuza.  Eskom has previously said it would employ fewer than 37,000 people by April 2023.  But whether tackled now or later, trade unions have made it clear they will fight any job losses with everything they have.  The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has even gone as far as accusing the current management of preparing Eskom for privatisation.

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