National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has rejected calls for the privatisation of Eskom, siting the load shedding the country has been experiencing.
The metal workers union said Independent Power Producers (IPP) currently contribute to the financial burdens of Eskom.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said, “Every time we have load shedding, it then becomes an excuse for people to justify the privatisation of Eskom and the introduction of the renewal energy IPPs. We reject this reasoning, because the fact of the matter is that IPPs are currently connected to the grid, and they are unable to provide electricity, and they cannot respond adequately to the problems of load shedding and beyond… that they are a massive burden to Eskom and to Eskom’s balance sheet…”
The power utility has been implementing load shedding following technical problems at its Medupi power station.
Hlubi-Majola further described load shedding as sabotage which is benefiting some Eskom employees in high structures of the organisation.
“Our position in regards to load shedding has always been that it is a type of deliberate sabotage that is taking place at Eskom. It is a reported fact that there are some Eskom employees as far back as 2008 – who have benefited from load shedding. They have made money from the prices of diesel. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that this is continuing, because clearly there are people within Eskom management who are benefiting from load shedding…”
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