EWN reports that Eskom on Tuesday advised the conclusion of a new wage deal with workers did not mean load shedding would immediately come to an end.

The utility had for weeks blamed the frequent power cuts on labour unrest as workers took part in unlawful strikes. However, the relief South Africans have been hoping for will not come about immediately. Eskom’s head of human resources Elsie Pule said the agreement would help lift some of the pressure from their maintenance backlog. But the effects won’t be immediate. “It’s also going take a bit to bring some of the units back but we believe it will contribute to stabilising our operations,” she said, adding that the disturbances from the unlawful strike action have exacerbated some of the work needed to be done on maintenance. Numsa’s Irvin Jim said the power crisis had nothing to do with workers: “We think Eskom must take full responsibility. We understand what the public has been subjected to. There has been load shedding before we got to these negotiations.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Theto Mahlakoana at EWN
• Read too, It will be years, not weeks, before load shedding ends, says energy expert Chris Yelland, at The Citizen (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page