PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regional chairperson, Malekutu Motubatse, has dismissed claims by Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that most of the issues at Eskom power stations were mainly technical and not related to corruption.
Motubatse said fraud and corruption was the main reason South Africa was experiencing loadshedding.
Last week, Ramokgopa, who is on a tour of Eskom’s power stations, said that most of the issues faced at power stations were technical and not necessarily due to corruption.
“We are categorically and emphatically disagreeing with the Minister’s version that corruption in Eskom does not play any role towards the persisting loadshedding,” said Motubatse.
“Most of the service providers in Eskom use more than one company to bid for a contract, those companies belong to one individual, they are called cover quotes, that is where real corruption is happening in cahoots with some Eskom employees.”
Motubatse said that the cause of the units tripping at Eskom was due to the purchase of substandard spare parts at inflated, colluded prices.
Additionally, he revealed that some of the spare parts are never delivered to the power stations even after payment, while others are swiftly removed from the sites due to corrupt practices.
“We were of the view that before the Minister could speak about corruption, he would have to dedicate his time by engaging with the NUM so that we can assist him in curbing naked corruption that is happening on a daily basis,” said Motubatse.
Ramokgopa held meetings with the management of five of Eskom’s coal-fired power plants last week.
At the end of his visits, Ramokgopa said the challenges at the power stations were technical, investment-related and not about corruption.
“The problems and challenges that we have here are technical problems, they have nothing to do with so-called corruption,” said Ramokgopa.
The union applauded the power utility Eskom for “finally listening to us by removing the former General Manager of Tutuka power station. The General Manager was one of the many reasons the country was subjected to persistent loadshedding.”
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