POLITICS

Govt should stop closure of five power stations – COSATU & NUM

Federation says IPP contracts should be suspended until clarity on jobs issue has been provided

COSATU and NUM to rollout a massive campaign against Eskom and government to fight against the closure of five power stations

12 April 2017

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is reiterating its call for government to stop proceeding with the introduction of Independent Power Producers {IPP’s} to the national grid and also to force Eskom to reverse its decision to shut down five power stations. We are fully behind the campaign by our affiliate the National Union of Mineworkers {NUM} to mobilise its members and push back against this reckless decision.

COSATU will lead from the front in mobilising workers from across the board, including communities and all the affected stakeholders to join the campaign against the introduction of IPP’s. We are looking forward to the NUM NEC meeting to be held on the 20-21 April 2017, where the details of the campaign will be thrashed out.

The federation is adamant that government should suspend IPP contracts until the clarity on the jobs issue has been provided. We also demand transparency and want to know, who are these IPP’s bringing into country in terms technology and skills.

We condemn the Ministers of Mineral Resources, Energy and State Owned Enterprises, including the President Jacob Zuma for failing to provide leadership on this matter. The country has invested billions in Eskom and now that we have an oversupply of electricity, they decide to shutdown power stations that produce electricity cheap and opt to buy it from IPP’s. This decision is going to destroy jobs and lives of the surrounding communities.

COSATU insists that climate change needs must go hand in hand with the needs for jobs and this is our interpretation of a just transition towards clean energy. Clean energy should not be introduced at the cost of jobs.  

The taxpayers are also picking the tab for these IPP’s because according to the Treasury as of March 2017 exposure to IPP amounted to R125.8 billion, which represents huge liability and transfer from the fiscus to the IPP. IPP are private companies and they should be required to create jobs, transfer technology and skills to workers that are employed in the fossil fuels sector in particular. Otherwise lack of jobs in the renewable sector could support claims that developed countries are using among others SA market to dump goods in South Africa

This decision also makes a mockery of government’s commitment to job creation.  This incoherent policy formulation is a serious cause for concern and makes the commitment to job creation and economic transformation sounds hollow and self serving.

This decision to shutdown power stations will not just affect jobs at the power stations but will also affect the coals mines that supply these power stations, the transport sector that carries these coals to the power stations, and the subcontractors. We do not see who will benefit from this poorly thought out project, which is why we need to know the identity of the owners of these IPP’s. We have a right to know whether those, who have endorsed this decision are not directly or indirectly benefiting from it, as has been the case in many instances of looting.

The federation will be submitting a section 77 at Nedlac on this matter as soon as possible and will mobilise across the society spectrum to fight against this suicidal decision by government. The NUM has estimated that over 40 000 workers will be affected by this reckless decision and almost a quarter a million people would be negatively affected by it.

We will also be fighting to ensure that the burden of paying huge electricity tariffs do not fall on the working class and the poor.   

Our message is clear, we do not need renewable energy unless there is certainty that current jobs will be preserved and new jobs will be created in the renewable sector. In the absence of a commitment to protect jobs there should not be any reckless action from government and Eskom.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 12 April 2017