Lynne Brown or Eskom is dishonest regarding Eskom's racial targets - Solidarity

8 April 2015

Either Public Enterprises Minister Lynn Brown or Eskom is dishonest about Eskom's objectives regarding racial numbers for its staff. This is according to the trade union Solidarity after Brown yesterday, at a KKNK discussion, denied that Eskom wanted to get rid of more than 3 000 white staff members within the next five years.

According to reports, Brown said that Eskom should actually transform but that it was not going to happen. She is of the opinion that Eskom in actual fact currently needs the expertise and that it was not debatable.

Piet le Roux, head of the Solidarity Research Institute, said, however, that Eskom maintained to Solidarity that white employees would be disproportionately reduced in accordance with the five year target.

"We have Eskom's racial plan on paper in front of us. In the first year of Eskom's racial plan, the company plans to reduce its white employees by 1 080, a 14% decrease in the number of white employees compared with a planned 4,8% decrease in the number of employees of other racial groups. It seems that Eskom harbours similar plans for the following four years and that thousands of white employees will eventually be gone after five years," Le Roux said.

Le Roux said up to now, Eskom has given no indication that the company would abandon its racial targets. "In reaction to a recent letter from Solidarity, Eskom once again confirmed that it considered the strict implementation of racial transformation to be non-negotiable, and that the company, upon instruction of Labour Director General Thobile Lamati, awarded race the highest priority in its appointment targets," Le Roux said.

Solidarity was to meet with Eskom again today regarding its racial plan.

Statement issued by Piet le Roux, Head: Solidarity Research Institute, April 8 2015

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