In an effort to fix the mess at Eskom, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has written to trade union Solidarity for help in sorting out the skills crisis at the power utility.
Solidarity chief executive Dr Dirk Hermann shared on his Facebook page the letter that was sent to him from the minister, requesting a list of people with the necessary technical skills that could help end some of the woes that Eskom faces.
“I received letters today from Minister Gordhan asking Solidarity to help with skills to solve the Eskom crisis. We have names of hundreds of experts who reached out to help. We will help if Eskom and the government are truly ready to receive aid,” Hermann said in his post.
View the post along with the letter below:
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Solidarity for coming forward to offer assistance in mobilising the critical skills needed to assist Eskom with generation performance challenges,” Gordhan wrote in the letter.
The minister went on to list the staff needed at Eskom, namely:
- Power station engineers (mechanical, electrical, nuclear, system, maintenance).
- Senior artisans and plant operators (coal and nuclear).
Eskom has come under fire, not just because of the rolling blackouts it imposed on the nation recently, but also for a proposal of new power tariffs and its bid that on-grid solar users pay R938 per month even if they don’t use its electricity.
Solidarity came out guns blazing today, describing Eskom’s latest application submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) as absurd, irrational and unlawful. It stated that if Eskom’s application was accepted, Solidarity would oppose the proposal with all the legal recourse at its disposal.
According to Solidarity, South Africa’s only hope of getting out of the power crisis lies in small-scale power generation that is taking place on a large scale, and Solidarity believes that it is through proposals such as this one that Eskom is turning itself from being an obstacle to power security into being a threat to it.
“It is one thing if Eskom does not want to contribute towards solving South Africa’s power crisis. However, by making proposals such as this, Eskom is changing from being a millstone around the neck to being an enemy of reliable power supply,” Hermann said.
BUSINESS REPORT