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BL Premium reports that SA is set to enter a second week of intense power cuts, with state-owned power utility Eskom warning it could take several weeks to recover from last week’s wildcat strike, which prevented up to 90% of staff going to work at some plants.
The industrial action, which unions say they did not sanction, forced Eskom to implement stage 6 load-shedding last Tuesday for the first time since 2019, and revert to stage 4 only at the weekend. In a statement released on Sunday, the utility said it would implement stage 6 load-shedding on Monday afternoon, with varying degrees of cuts throughout the week, depending on the extent to which employees return to work on Monday. With a full workforce, it would gradually lower load-shedding to stage 2 by the weekend, it said. “With the exception of Matla [power station], there has been a marked increase in employees returning to work during the weekend. We expect all workers to return this week as the wage negotiations get resolved,” Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said. Wage talks between Eskom and unions are expected to resume on Tuesday. Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said on Friday that about half of SA’s power outages last week were due to the strike. Eskom staff are classified as essential workers and are ostensibly prohibited from striking. The utility will be taking disciplinary action against workers who stayed away unlawfully. All alleged acts of intimidation will be investigated, De Ruyter said, referring to reports that the homes of some senior Eskom officials were torched by striking workers and that non-strikers were prevented from entering power plants. Criminal acts will be reported to the SA Police Service to investigate, while other offences will be investigated internally, De Ruyter said. Eskom head of generation Rhulani Mathebula said management had not detected any evidence of sabotage during the strike, but some employees who had reported for duty had their personal property damaged.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn & Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Eskom to take disciplinary action against staff who embarked on unlawful strike, at EWN
- And also, Police have opened two cases of intimidation related to Eskom protests, at Fin24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page