The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) says it has been disappointed by Greenpeace’s statement on renewable energy.
The union says it rejects the profit motive dominating the transition to renewable energy; this after the environmental organisation condemned the court interdict by Numsa preventing the signature of 27 contracts with renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) contracts with Eskom last week.
The Energy Department however, has denied that a court granted Numsa an interdict against the signing of IPPs and said the court merely postponed the matter to the March 27,2018.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says the union has been attacked for insisting on a just transition from coal to renewable energy.
Hlubi-Majola said, “Greenpeace is accusing Numsa of Sabotaging renewable energy in favour of coal and in the process standing in the way of progress. It is the profit motive and capitalism and not the working class who are the cause of the global warming and the climate change and the destruction of the ecosystems. We reject private ownership and advance social ownership of the energy economy.”
