This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
Fin24 reports that trade union federation Cosatu has thrown its support behind a deal that will see SA receive $8.5 billion (R131 billion) in cheap loans and grants to fund a move away from coal.
The partnership between SA and a group of wealthy nations was announced this week at a United Nations summit on global warming in Glasgow. A series of grants, cheap loans, guarantees and private investments will be provided or facilitated by France, Germany, the UK, the USA and the European Union over three to five years to "accelerate [the] decarbonisation of South Africa's electricity system". Central to the agreement is the idea of a "just transition" that protects vulnerable workers in the coal industry. Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla noted on Thursday that the funding agreement would help support workers and communities whose livelihoods were at risk from the decommissioning of SA's fleet of coal-fired power stations. He commented as follows: "This hopefully will be used to benefit coal mining and energy workers, including communities in Mpumalanga whose towns and economies revolve around these aging power stations and mines. We simply cannot afford to lose a single job when unemployment has pushed past 44%, nor can we allow communities to become lifeless ghost towns." Speaking earlier this week, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said the financing deal would give Eskom the opportunity to "pivot to a new future". Cosatu said that as SA reduced its reliance on coal, Eskom should enter the renewable energy space as an "owner of generation capacity". While the power utility has built some wind and solar power plants, most of SA’s renewable energy developments have come from independent power producers, who entered into 20-year agreements with Eskom.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page