Eskom strike: 'We've got the power'

11 August 2016 - 09:14 By GRAEME HOSKEN

Eskom is unfazed by the illegal strike by 15,000 of its employees. So confident is it of the adequacy of its coal and diesel reserves that it has given an assurance that it will be able to keep the lights on well into the future.Wage talks between Eskom and the unions Solidarity, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metal Workers of SA resumed yesterday.The utility's spokesman, Khulu Phasiwe, said it had coal reserves sufficient for two months. "The transportation of coal to our power stations has not been affected by the strike. On top of this, we have enough diesel reserves that, even if the coal supplies and reserves are affected, we can still keep the lights on for months."He was speaking as 15,000 NUM members, who include technicians, defied a court order and downed tools yesterday."We have 47,000 employees. Of these, 32,000 are not aligned to NUM. These workers are helping to ensure that we can keep the lights on despite the strike." Eskom cuts off private powerThe future of the government’s independent power producers’ programme‚ which has been lauded as a global success‚ is uncertain following an Eskom board decision that it will not sign any power purchase agreements with private producers after the current round is finalised.He said that during the strike, which would result in "fair disciplinary action" against striking workers, small pockets of protesters had gathered outside some of the utility's power stations.The police had been providing support "to ensure that law and order are maintained"."On Tuesday the unions came down from their 13% wage-increase demand to 10%. Eskom determined to exit 'cost plus' coal dealsEskom is back at the negotiating table with Exxaro, this time over Matla Coal Mine, which requires R1.8-billion for its redevelopment. The power utility is reluctant to stump up the funds because the mine's contract expires in 2023."That's just a few percent [age points] from what Eskom is offering, which is between 7% and 9%."He said Eskom "was not panicking"."Things are looking good. We are hopeful that the meeting with the unions, which all parties agreed to, will soon result in a resolution."We definitely do not see this strike becoming protracted. Even if it did, we are confident [that] our reserve supplies [are sufficient] to keep South Africa's lights shining."NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu told Reuters that the union's members were on strike in the provinces in which Eskom has its biggest plants, including Mpumalanga, and were "fighting for the right cause"...

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