Fin24 reports that Eskom has announced that Stage 4 loadshedding will continue to be implemented until at least midnight on Wednesday.
The power utility indicated in a statement on Sunday: "This is due to unlawful and unprotected labour action at a number of power stations, which has caused delays in carrying out planned maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, at a number of power stations, the full staff complement has not reported for duty. As a result, unplanned generation losses have not been reduced as planned, which has compelled Eskom to continue taking precautionary measures to conserve generation capacity and safeguard plant from damage." The utility advised that the stage of load shedding might have to change at "short notice", depending on plant performance and labour availability. Last week Eskom said it was facing protests linked to wage talks. These ranged from blocking access to some power stations to the violent intimidation of managers and other staff who reported for duty. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said on Friday that no union had claimed responsibility for the protests.
- Read the original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24
- See too, Load-shedding to continue at stage 4 until Wednesday, or longer, at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page