NUPSAW calls for new Eskom Board and Minister to ensure the stability of electricity supply.

15 January 2020

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) is calling for the President to review Eskom Board and the Minister with immediate effect as they are currently taking South Africans for a jolly ride as they continue to sabotage South Africans with continuous unplanned load shedding.

The scale of the situation at Eskom regarding the ongoing load shedding crisis is increasing day by day for the nation with over millions of household including thousands of businesses being affected by the situation, “this shows that Eskom Board is struggling with handling the utilities administration and that there is no leadership within but importantly there is no stability at the utility in terms of being able to bring Eskom back to its feet and stopping the load shedding” says Kagiso Makoe, NUPSAW Media Officer.

“We are continuing to have the sabotage of load shedding stage 8 and a broken Eskom because people stole and continue to steal within Eskom, we are tired of their lame excuses and no action” says Makoe. Back in 2013, Eskom promised to approve 13 projects and one of the key expansions was Medupe Power station and 13 years later the station is still to be completed. Whether the Station will be finished in 2021 as the anticipated time we are still to see as South Africans.

“We are currently passed the stage of requesting/begging the Eskom Board to provide us with feasible solutions but supporting the motion of the President to remove Pravin Gordon and reshuffle the Eskom Board.” Says Kagiso Makoe, NUPSAW Media Officer.

The Eskom Board should consist of majority of members who are technically inclined along with the Minister who has technical background as our economy rest on the issue of power. The elected should be able to bring understanding to the load shedding and not just minimize but stop it as well because the current Board is indeed unqualified individuals who still cannot explain the issue or promise the minimization of load shedding to South Africans.

The call by the Mining companies for government to introduce IPP’s is opportunistic in that they are ignoring the fact that these renewable energy is expensive and definitely not affordable by the country.

“Eskom Board needs to take accountability of the situation and we urge the President to take the challenge of removing Gordan and reshuffle the Eskom board, as we need a new implementation and proper processes for engagement to the crisis at Eskom as the utility is really falling apart,” says Kagiso Makoe, NUPSAW Media Officer.

Issued by Kagiso Makoe, NUPSAW Media Officer, 15 January 2020