Mapaila calls for tripartite alliance meeting over electricity crisis

South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila says the tripartite alliance needs to convene a major alliance meeting to deal with the country’s electricity crisis as a matter of urgency.

Mapaila says there needs to be a pushback on the privatisation of Eskom and the profiteering on rolling blackouts.

He says the meeting will also need to address the technological threat facing workers.

Mapaila was addressing delegates at the 14th Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) national congress currently underway in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.

“In the prioritisation of load shedding, we must also call for an end to privatisation of Eskom, including this process that we now see the profiteering on this continued load shedding,” adds Mapaila.

Below is the full address by Solly Mapaila:

Announcement to reconstitute Eskom board welcomed

Labour unions have welcomed the announcement by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to reconstitute the Eskom Board.

This after the power utility failed to address the power supply constraints that have plagued the country for more than a decade.

The lack of board members with an engineering background has been cited among the reasons for Eskom’s failure to solve the electricity crisis affecting the country.

In a statement, Gordhan says he has been in constant engagement with the current board on various matters including the ongoing energy crisis.

Gordhan’s intention to reconstitute the Eskom Board: