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Bloomberg reports that according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, trade unions that oppose the government’s plans to split embattled state-owned Eskom Holdings into three units will ultimately have to support the reforms.
The power utility is reliant on government bailouts as it struggles under R440-billion of debt and annual losses. Mantashe is one of the key officials charged with ensuring that there is a reliable power supply and Eskom becomes financially sustainable. He said in an interview with Bloomberg TV: “The unions are going to get behind the plan. We have a duty to do what is right for the country, more than what is just right for unions and workers, and we must do what can save the economy, what can save the country.” Mantashe added that Eskom “must be redirected and managed properly. If it fails, that would be a disaster for South Africa.” He is a former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, which along with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, represent the bulk of the utility’s 46,665 workers. Both unions have rejected plans to separate Eskom into generation, distribution and transmission units under a state holding company as they fear the move would be precursor to privatisation and job losses.
- Read the full original of the above report at Mining Weekly
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