Solidarity - Government should be held accountable for electricity problems

By Ilhaam Hoosain
13 October 2007

Trade Union Solidarity says that the disruptive power cuts, caused by power sharing process, is governments fault.

“The power shortage is the result of the current government’s scrapping plans that were drawn up in the early 1990s for new power stations, since it did not regard the construction of new power stations as a priority," according to Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.

Affirmative action and staff cutbacks have been rife in the South African electricity supplier.

“Ten years ago, Eskom had more than 60 000 employees. Of these, only 26 000 remain, while the demand for electricity continues to grow. Maintenance and inspections at power stations have been neglected, compounded by the growing shortage of critical skills that is being exacerbated daily by affirmative action,” says Kleynhans.

“The government will have to take responsibility for the electricity supply crisis and place a moratorium on affirmative action in Eskom. We urge Eskom to draw up a new recruitment policy that will attract more skilled workers to the company, to review its employment equity policy and to devise a concrete plan for the training of workers.”

Kleynhans asks that while the uncertainty continues about electricity supplies and is expected to persist until 2012, investors may not want to invest long term because of the unstable situation in South Africa.