Fin24 reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has demanded that Eskom reinstate about 300 workers whom the union says lost their jobs unfairly after the power utility did not renew a contract with service provider Kusile JV.

The union's JC Bez region members held a picket at Megawatt Park on Thursday and handed over a memorandum demanding that the matter be rectified. The affected employees include cleaners and gardeners. In a statement, Numsa said the affected workers would have been transferred to the new service provider and absorbed into the business in terms of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act, but that did not happen. "Numsa is of the view that they have been unfairly dismissed,” the union indicated. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha responded by saying that a new independent contractor was appointed at the expiry of the service contract that employed some of the affected workers. "Each service contract has a start and an end date, as does each job on such a contract. As a condition of the service contract, each new contractor is required to first offer job opportunities on the same conditions to the employees of the previous contractor, which was the case here. Those employees who complied with the requirements for interviews and screening by the new employer were indeed appointed. Those who declined forfeited any employment opportunity with the new contractor," Mantshantsha indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24

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