Andre de Ruyter, the CEO of Eskom, has stated that the power company will take action against employees who have been engaged in an illegal strike for the past week.
Up to 90% of employees were missing from work due to the strike, which had a severe impact on the power grid and forced the nation into stage 6 load shedding as a preventative measure to prevent a system breakdown.
De Ruyter claimed that because Eskom is regarded as an essential service, employees are not allowed to go on strike.
“We will discipline any employees who have taken unapproved time off.
That might involve putting the adage “no labor, no money” into practice.
The Eskom disciplinary code will be in effect if there are acts of intimidation and violence, and we will be handling the various investigations in accordance with it.
Criminal acts will be reported to the South African Police Service so they can look into them.
“A vital service is Eskom. Therefore, a strike by employees is prohibited.
There is a double violation of the law here since they are vital employees who aren’t allowed to strike and because we were able to get an interdict [against the strike].
The fact that the nation is being held hostage by [these] measures is an unacceptable situation, he said.
After Eskom agreed to resume salary negotiations with unions on Wednesday, the power firm stated that it expected workers to report back to their stations.
De Ruyter claims that despite the continued stay-away action, this did not occur.
“To enable us to lift load shedding, the successful return to work of the two unions is the most critical point of constraint at this moment.
The unlawful industrial action has caused around three stages of load shedding, therefore that is the main component placing us in the situation we are in right now, according to De Ruyter.
Eskom’s diesel and dam water stocks are starting to deplete due to increased grid pressure.
“We are taking steps to address this. We are obtaining more diesel supply from any available sources.
We regrettably must revert to stage six load shedding at 4 p.m. this afternoon in order to safely navigate through our peak period because we have not recharged our dams as much as we would have liked to.
coming back into service
Despite these difficulties, at least 1500MW of power is anticipated to return to the grid during the coming weeks, according to De Ruyter.
Following the collapse of one of its pylons, the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power project in Mozambique is expected to produce at least 600MW by the end of the weekend.
“The location, which is located in a very remote area, has been accessed by the Mozambican company.
They are working on repairs, and by Sunday night, things should be back to normal.
Thus, 600MW from Mozambique should return to the grid by Sunday, and that will undoubtedly play a significant role.
“The refueling of Koeberg [Nuclear Power Station] Unit Two will be finished on July 15th.
Once the unit returns, it will add an additional 920MW to the grid, which is on track.
Of course, ramping up to full capacity takes a few days,” he remarked.
Stage six load shedding is anticipated to start at 6 p.m. today evening, and stage four load shedding is anticipated to take place all weekend.