NUM will fight unbundling

Splitting Eskom into three units will mean its mandate of producing reliable electricity at an affordable rate will be replaced by an emphasis on productivity at whatever cost.

The unbundling of Eskom will be a costly exercise. There will be three boards, three CEOs and three CFOs ... They will still consume the very same constrained public resources.

Rumours abound that there will be a large number of retrenchments at Eskom. The real unemployment rate, including people who have given up looking for work, is 38%, with close to 10-million people struggling to get jobs and more than 17-million on welfare.

At the recently held National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) national shop stewards’ council, workers expressed anger towards Eskom. They reiterated the NUM’s position that retrenchments at Eskom will not happen in our lifetime. The unbundling of Eskom is clearly motivated by greed and continued corrupt activities within the power utility. This move will also weaken the unity of workers, as workers will be divided into three businesses.

The unity of workers in 1998-2000 derailed the attempt by then president Thabo Mbeki’s regime to privatise 30% of Eskom’s power generation. At the council, the shop stewards said they do not want an Eskom that is always bailed out; they want a permanent solution.

Any posture that seeks to propel the unbundling will be met with militancy and radicalism. Watch this space.

Luphert Chilwane

Media officer, National Union of Mineworkers