Eskom was warned: union
Trade union Solidarity said that it has warned Eskom for years about the grave consequences of its serious skills shortage and for taking shortcuts during routine maintenance.
Solidarity criticised Eskom, saying that the company has been warned against skills shortages and about an exodus of experts from the company for years. However, these warnings fell on deaf ears.
Solidarity’s reaction comes after a silo, containing tonnes of coal, collapsed at Eskom’s Majuba Power Station yesterday, and as a consequence, plunged the entire country into load shedding as was the case during the countrywide power crisis in 2008.
“The time has arrived for Eskom to answer for its reluctance to address these issues,” said Deon Reyneke, Solidarity’s Head of the Energy Industry
“For this reason, Solidarity will request Eskom to carry out a proper survey of its current skills pool and to address the serious shortcomings in it. Eskom cannot afford yet another crisis like the one yesterday.”
The union said that unproductivity of employees appears to be a major stumbling block for Eskom.
“For example, it has recently come to Solidarity’s attention that only an approximate 13 000 of Eskom’s 43 000 employees are fully productive,” the union said.
Reyneke believes fingers would be pointed at Eskom for this and other issues until the company takes steps to resolve these issues.
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