Eskom erred with zero percent increase – chair

Eskom chair Jabu Mabuza yesterday said it may have been “tactically wrong” to start wage negotiations with unions representing employees at the power utility at zero percent.

“When you deal with the issues of wages, I think we could have handled this issue better as Eskom. It was perhaps tactically wrong to go in the negotiation chamber and say we are going to have a zero percent increase. I think that was a bit wrong,” he said.

Mabuza – who also chairs Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) – made the comments at the Oyster Box in Umhlanga yesterday morning.

He was responding to questions after a speech to BLSA Durban members by Phumzile Langeni, who is part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoy for investment. Langeni was updating members on Ramaphosa’s call to attract $100 billion in investment.

Mabuza said the decision of a zero percent wage increase had come as Eskom chief executive Phakamani Hadebe announced that the company needed to look at cost cutting areas such as freezing posts, freezing salary increases and forfeiting bonuses.

“But because of the timing when he made that announcement, it was inside the chamber. So, unions on the other side, rightfully so, said we are coming with 15%. You are coming with zero, you are mad, you are arrogant,” said Mabuza.

Eskom two weeks ago rejected a salary increase of between nine and 15% that was proposed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and Solidarity.

The company’s insistence on zero percent saw employee protests throughout the country and alleged acts of sabotage that led to sporadic load shedding nationwide.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan had to step in to bring both parties back to the negotiating table, but Mabuza said that Gordhan had in no way decided on the 4.7% offer that the state-owned entity eventually made to the unions, which was rejected.

The wage negotiations would resume tomorrow, confirmed Mabuza. – ANA