Fin24 reports that state-owned power utility Eskom said on Friday that it had "neither plans nor decision to retrench any employees, whatever their gender or race."
This followed claims by Solidarity that the state-owned power company "wants to get rid of another 500 white maintenance staff". According to the trade union, this was part of Eskom's latest Employment Equity plan for 2023-2025. Solidarity also reported that it had issued a legal letter to Eskom calling for a halt to race-based appointments at the utility while the country was in the grip of an ongoing power crisis. Eskom responded by saying that the employment equity document in question was for internal discussion and there were no retrenchment plans in place. It said that, on the contrary, it wanted to bolster skills to tackle the power crisis. But Solidarity was not convinced. "We do not see in the plan that Eskom is making plans to address its skills challenges. This plan is all about skin colour at the various job levels," Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann said on Thursday. In a further statement on Sunday, Solidarity noted that the current number of white men at Eskom totaled 1,873. “According to Eskom’s targets, it wants to reduce this number to 1,379. Eskom therefore wants to get rid of 494 white men. This is the group that is mainly responsible for maintenance work at Eskom. Those are the employees with the skills that now need to be protected and preserved at all costs”, the union stated. Noting that Eskom had elaborated that it was not going to retrench people, Solidarity commented: “No one, and certainly not Solidarity, said people were going to be retrenched. Retrenchment as a means to achieve race targets is unlawful. Employers make use of appointments, promotion and attrition to reach their targets. Eskom must explain how it wants to get to its absurd targets.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marelise van der Merwe at Fin24
- Lees ook, Eskom sê oor afleggings, by Maroela Media
- En verder, Solidariteit vat Eskom aan oor sy teikens, by Maroela Media
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