The NUM press statement regarding the developments at Eskom

14 March 2016

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) held its National Pre-Bargaining Seminar on the 10th – 12th March 2016 in preparation for Collective bargaining that is scheduled to commence with Eskom, and the following decisions were taken:

The NUM supports the investigation by the Treasury on Eskom corrupt tendencies pertaining to coal contracts, and we believe that this investigation will yield positive results.

We call upon the Treasury to further extend its scope of investigation to include possible corruption by Eskom Management in the awarding of tenders on various projects across the company and its subsidiaries,

We vehemently oppose the sale of Eskom Finance Company also known as (EFC) and call upon Eskom and government to suspend the sale of all assets, including the sale of the (EFC),

Whilst Eskom claims to be championing transformation, it has since 2010 refused to comply with the DG Review with regard to correction of income differential gap that has existed for years as a result of apartheid wage gap. We call upon the Minister of the Department of Labour to compel Eskom to implement the 2010 and 2013 DG Review findings respectively. 

Despite the new labour law amendments regarding the employment of temporary workers beyond three months, Eskom continues to undermine the provisions of the law by perpetually procuring the services of temporary workers on inferior conditions of employment whilst they provide services that are of permanent in nature. We call upon Eskom to comply with the labour law amendments and appoint these workers permanently, 

As we prepare for collective bargaining, we are aware that Eskom will try its level best to mislead the public about its lack of funds and further claim that it will not afford to pay its employees the salary increase they deserve, and this will happen whilst Eskom is squandering money on technology Knows as Drive-Cam which unnecessarily costs Eskom millions of rands that can be utilized profitably in running its operations and satisfying the demands of employees who work so hard to ensure that lights are always on. We are calling upon the government to force Eskom to scrap the Drive-Cam and devise cheaper ways of managing its fleet.

The NUM is extremely disappointed that Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Molefe did not attend the strategic forum meeting today with the NUM where he was supposed to present the restructuring proposal at Eskom.

"We feel that Brian Molefe is undermining the NUM. As workers, we are worried that the restructuring proposal will lead to job losses. We are calling for an urgent meeting with the Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne brown to address the restructuring and the sale of Eskom assets," said Paris Mashego, NUM Energy Sector Coordinator.

Issued by Livhuwani Mammburu, NUM National Spokesperson, 14 March 2016