The Mercury

Union, party take on Eskom

- Theto Mahlakoana

THE SACP has thrown its weight behind the call by the National Union of Mineworker­s that Eskom not sell off its assets to generate cash.

The union has upped the ante and asked to meet Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss its concerns and its unhappines­s over plans to sell off some of the ailing power utility’s assets.

Ramaphosa, a former general secretary of the union, has been tasked by the cabinet to take charge of getting Eskom out of the starting blocks as it struggles to meet targets and demands for electricit­y.

The SACP said yesterday that Eskom’s problems were complex and any attempts to privatise the parastatal would be a blunder, and should not be considered as an option to resolving challenges.

In an interview with The Mercury, union general secretary Frans Baleni said members were being mobilised, and among their options was a decision to take to the streets to voice their demands.

Should Eskom go ahead with the sale of the company, this would anger workers who depended on the scheme for reasonably priced home loans. Should workers decide to embark on industrial action, the struggling parastatal would crumble.

Eskom chief executive Tshediso Matona is reported to have told a Reuters Africa Investment Summit that the electricit­y generator was considerin­g selling the Eskom Finance Company which provides home loan facilities to its employees.

The union also got backing from the SACP on its opposition to the Independen­t System Market Operator Bill, which would take away the energy transmissi­on role of Eskom, an action that would inevitably break the company’s monopoly on electricit­y generation.

The bill also received no support from the ANC, which called for its rejection during a national executive committee meeting in January.

The union has begun a process which seeks to stop the sale of the finance company or any other assets by Eskom.

A campaign, called “Save our Eskom”, would be used to galvanise support from all quarters in society.

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