Moneyweb reports that according to trade union Solidarity, Eskom management was increasingly blaming staff in public for load shedding, but failed to provide the basics for them to keep the lights on.

“There are no spares, because there is no money. Staff are trying to improvise and get permission for makeshift plans, but when the pawpaw hits the fan, management turns on them and blame them,” said Tommy Wedderspoon, coordinator for the electrical sector at Solidarity. He indicated that the morale among Eskom staff was at rock bottom as unions head to the CCMA, where a dispute about Eskom’s “unilateral implementation of salary increases and reduction in benefits” will be heard in December. SA has been suffering rolling blackouts on and off since 23 October, with a break on 1 November when the country went to the polls for municipal elections. Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who has previously called for a culture change at Eskom, has referenced criminal activities at a number of power stations. He has also announced a system of financial incentives and penalties for power station managers, based on the performance of their plants. Wedderspoon said power station managers who stood to lose part of their pay when their plant performed poorly were in an impossible position as there was no money for them to order spares to keep their plant running. Under these conditions staff tried to make plans and when another plant was standing idle, they might, for example, cannibalise it for spares. According to Wedderspoon, this was done “with approval” – but if things went wrong, they were blamed and told the approval was unauthorised.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Moneyweb

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