THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) highveld region says it is greatly concerned and worried about the continued roll-out of Stage 6 load-shedding by the power utility, Eskom.
The NUM highveld region is situated in Mpumalanga where there are majority of Eskom power stations, and “the ongoing roll-out of load-shedding is unsustainable for the economies of most local communities, of which that might result in the increase of unemployment and poverty.”
The power stations in the region such as Kendal, Matla and Tutuka are currently not operating in full capacity, meaning that load-shedding will continue to be unavoidable.
The country has witnessed more than 200 days of power cuts in 2022, the most in a calendar year, and the situation could get even worse in 2023.
“The NUM feels that we could have avoided much of this debilitating load-shedding if government had moved with greater speed to implement the commitments of the Eskom Social Compact,” said NUM Highveld Deputy Regional Secretary Thapelo Malekutu.
“The challenges to these power stations is known, it is in fact disturbing that the General Manager of Tutuka power station in particular is a failure and yet he is still occupying the position. This man since he arrived at Tutuka, the power station is under performing, his focus is on bodyguards that are always surrounding him and omnipresent as if he is acting a movie but suffering from a colossal failure to turn around the power station.”
The mine workers union also called for the President Cyril Ramaphosa to consider engaging with the NUM Highveld Region leadership to resolve the energy crisis.
“The President must stop listening or considering reports from Minister Pravin Gordan. Minister Gordan has reached the ceiling in terms of thinking. He is confused and knows nothing. He misled the President on a number of occasions and brought the so-called retired engineers into the system. Eskom does not need old engineers, but it requires young and energetic engineers,” said Malekutu.
“When a person is old, he or she turned to forget easily and practically they even turned to confuse the names of their own grandchildren. How can such an old and retired engineer remember the plant components?”
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