ANC to blame for Eskom collapse, says Numsa
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has vowed to embark on rolling mass action over the decision to unbundle Eskom.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his State of the Nation Address that the cash-strapped power utility would be split into generation, distribution and transmission entities.
Speaking to the media at the Numsa offices in Newtown on Thursday, the union’s general secretary Irvin Jim said the proposed unbundling is nothing less than privatisation.
He also called for unity among the country’s competing trade union federations.
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"Our national executive committee will declare a Section 77 (to allow them to protest) in defence of Eskom. We shall be calling for unity of all workers across various sectors of the economy. Numsa, NUM, Saftu and Cosatu must all take to the streets.
"The entire ANC leadership is to blame for the collapse of Eskom. We have noticed a very cheap ploy being propagated by the ANC, where the current leadership in its response to the deep-seated rot of corruption within the ANC and its government, present themselves as being holier-than-thou, targeting failures of particular individuals who become the scapegoats for a much deeper rot."
Jim believes the recent bout of load-shedding was orchestrated by the government to justify the splitting of Eskom and the continued use of Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
"This unbundling, the effects of it are far more detrimental than what is anticipated. The effects include retrenchments, closure of businesses, the creation of ghost towns, especially in Mpumalanga, and tariff hikes far higher than what one can afford on the poverty national minimum wage of R20 per hour."
Numsa has placed the blame for the crisis on the shoulders of Ramaphosa, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe.
"Within seven days of his appointment, Jeff Radebe, unilaterally and against the will of the workers and the country went ahead and signed on another 27 IPP contracts in April, which cost R2.22 per kilowatt hour when Eskom can produce a unit under 50 cents and therefore, Eskom is selling at 85 cents," added Jim.
The union also rejected Gordhan's explanation that some of Eskom's power stations were not constructed properly and the company is burdened with old infrastructure.
Jim said the union will be in talks with other federations to decide on a day for a total shutdown.