The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Sunday again demanded “full transparency” at state power supplier Eskom following the latest round of rotational blackouts, announced at short notice on Saturday night.
“We demand full transparency, full forensic audits, the institution of rotating tier 1 audit firms and a halt to this profligacy at the expense of consumers,” said the party’s shadow minister of public enterprises, Ghaleb Cachalia, via an emailed statement.
“South Africans are barely into the new year, and despite president Ramaphosa’s assurance in December last year that there would be no load shedding until mid-January, Eskom announced last night that it would implement load shedding from 10pm to 8am on Sunday morning. A further announcement has extended this to Monday.”
Despite leave being cancelled for Eskom managers and executives, said Cachalia, South Africans were facing a “rude introduction” to 2020.
“Moreover, Eskom now wants to reward its workforce with R1.8 billion in performance bonuses between 2019 and 2022, regardless of a debt that has ballooned to R450 billion.”
Analysts believe that Eskom is 66% overstaffed. It has been reported that the company’s estimated 6500 middle managers are unhappy with the 7.5% increase given to lower-tier workers, and want to be put into the same bargaining unit as those workers.
“When is this madness going to end? When are we going to stop rewarding dismal performance?” asked Cachalia.
“To add insult to injury, Eskom is also seeking to squeeze an additional R69 billion out of consumers, via a price hike – an application which NERSA is opposing.
“When is South Africa going to be told the unvarnished truth about the mismanagement and ongoing theft that bedevils this crucial supplier of public goods to the economy and country?”
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Source: African News Agency (ANA)
