Fin24 reports that Eskom extended an olive branch to labour unions on Friday in a bid to help rescue the struggling state-owned power utility.  

In a statement, Eskom said it had met with Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), which along with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) represent the bulk of the utility’s 46,665 employees, in an effort to strengthen relations and for the turnaround strategy to be shared.  The meeting with the three unions came after Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe indicated earlier in the week that the unions would have to support the government’s plans to split the power utility Eskom into three separate units.  The meeting on Friday was led by Acting Eskom CEO Jabu Mabuza, who promised to create fertile ground to allow for unions and Eskom to have mutually beneficial engagements beyond his term.  "If there is one thing I want to have accomplished when I leave this post in the next 10 weeks, it’s to have created an environment where Eskom and unions are able to have more frank and robust discussions about the future of Eskom," said Mabuza.  He added that Eskom and the unions had agreed to further discussions.  Unions have vehemently opposed layoffs at Eskom and have criticised the government’s plans to unbundle the power utility to cut costs.

• Read the full original of the above report at Fin24

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