National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola has denied that the union is a part of plans to carry a protest at Eskom’s Megawatt Park headquarters in Joburg on Friday (1 July).
This comes after a 29 June memo, bearing Numsa’s and the National Union of Mineworkers’s (Num) logos in addition to signatures of senior union officers, started circulating, together with requires a picket at Eskom’s head office on Friday. The memo additionally requires the resignation of Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, chief working officer Jan Oberholzer and basic supervisor of individuals relations Dr Thulane Ngele.
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When requested to verify the authenticity of the letter, Hlubi-Majola advised Moneyweb that the assertion “is not [an] official communication from Numsa” including that the union’s focus at the moment is to interact the facility utility on a brand new wage deal.
“There is no Numsa picket at Megawatt Park on Friday. We are focusing on the talks which are happening at the Central Bargaining Forum (CBF) from tomorrow with Eskom,” she added in a message to Moneyweb.
Num’s power sector coordinator Khangela Baloyi, nonetheless, didn’t deny the veracity of the memo, saying that it was handed on by branches of the union.
“This letter is from branches in Lephalale [in Limpopo]. The branches are divided on this issue,” Baloyi wrote in a message to Moneyweb.
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In the joint memo, union members have additionally known as on their unions to supply transportation to Eskom’s head office on Friday, in order that employees can air their grievances to their bosses.
“Employees are requesting the two organisations to provide buses to Eskom Megawatt Park on Friday 1 July 2022. Employees are calling for the removal of Andre de Ruyter; Jan Oberholzer and Dr Thulane Ngele,” the letter reads.
Calls by Num and Numsa members for De Ruyter and Oberholzer to resign aren’t new. In November and December 2021 members of each unions made comparable calls.
Meanwhile, when requested if Eskom is conscious of any plans for a protest by employees at its headquarters on Friday, Eskom’s spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha responded to Moneyweb: “There’s nothing for Eskom to respond to on this. Wage talks will resume tomorrow”.
Questioned whether or not the utility has a mitigation plan in place, Mantshantsha mentioned Eskom might be taking precautionary measures ought to a picket materialise tomorrow.
“Load shedding is continuing right now because there are still high levels of absenteeism and intimidation of working employees,” he added.
Impact on load shedding
Should the protest happen on Friday, it may exacerbate South Africa’s load shedding woes.
In the wake of Eskom workers embarking on an unlawful strike final week, the facility utility was pressured to escalate load shedding to Stage 6 throughout night peaks on Tuesday and Wednesday, to try to steadiness elevated night demand with a severely constrained era system.
On Wednesday, protesting Eskom workers had been speculated to return to their duties after unions and Eskom determined to reconvene wage negotiations.
However, their failure to take action noticed the utility implementing stage 6 load shedding at 14:00 on Thursday, with plans for it to proceed till midnight. After which shoppers can count on the very best stage of load shedding carried out to date to proceed for the remainder of the day Friday.
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Gordhan hopes all Eskom employees will return to work, as wage negotiations resume
Eskom warns it might take ‘days to weeks’ earlier than its programs get well
Consequently, Eskom has cautioned that it might take some time for its programs to get well. Adding that it may take so long as weeks to clear its upkeep backlog and for South Africans to return to some kind of normalcy on the facility provide entrance.
