Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has asked trade union Solidarity for help in fixing Eskom.
Solidarity chief executive, Dr Dirk Hermann, shared on his Facebook page the letter that was sent to him from the minister, requesting a list of people with the necessary technical skills that could help end some of the woes that Eskom faces, according to Business Report.
“I received letters today from Minister Gordhan asking Solidarity to help with skills to solve the Eskom crisis.
“We have names of hundreds of experts who reached out to help.
“We will help if Eskom and the government are truly ready to receive aid,” Hermann said in his post.
Gordhan wrote in the letter: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Solidarity for coming forward to offer assistance in mobilising the critical skills needed to assist Eskom with generation performance challenges.”
The minister went on to list the staff needed at Eskom, namely:
Power station engineers (mechanical, electrical, nuclear, system, maintenance). Senior artisans and plant operators (coal and nuclear).
Eskom has come under fire for the rolling blackouts, its proposal of new power tariffs and its bid that on-grid solar users pay R938 per month even if they don’t use its electricity.
Solidarity yesterday described Eskom’s latest application submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) as “absurd, irrational and unlawful”.
It stated that if Eskom’s application was accepted, Solidarity would oppose the proposal with all the legal recourse at its disposal.
According to Solidarity, South Africa’s only hope of getting out of the power crisis lies in small-scale power generation by a large number of producers.
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