Medupi violent protests: Eskom fumbling in the dark
The DA will be asking the Department of Public Enterprises to urgently deploy mediators to the Medupi power station site to resolve on-going violent labour unrest and ensure worker safety.
Last Friday 1 100 workers affiliated to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), and employed by energy technology company Alstom Kentz, embarked on protest action that led to those workers being locked out by the company.
Yesterday morning, workers employed by Hitachi Kaefer (see note below - Editor) and Murray & Roberts Projects disrupted bus transport to the Medupi site, reportedly injuring 25 workers in the process.
These protests follow similar incidents of violent labour unrest experienced throughout the course of 2012.
The inevitable outcome has been accumulating delays in the construction of the power station. The total cost of these delays, including interest, amounted to R116 billion as of the middle of 2012. Given recent events, this figure has undoubtedly climbed.