Share

Eskom halts work at strike-hit power station

Share your Subscriber Article
You have 5 articles to share every month. Send this story to a friend!
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
loading...
Loading, please wait...
Medupi Power Plant.
Medupi Power Plant.

Johannesburg - Eskom said striking workers had destroyed property at the Medupi power plant it is building and the state-owned utility closed the site on Thursday to assess the damage.

Labour disruption and technical faults have increased costs at the long-delayed Medupi coal plant, expected to start generating 800 megawatts of extra electricity by July. It would become South Africa's first new power station to come online in 20 years and help to address a chronic supply shortage.

About 21 000 contract workers went on a one-day strike on Wednesday over poor living conditions and seeking higher pay.

"During the strike, some of our buildings and vehicles were damaged. We have closed the site in order to determine the extent of the damage," Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Reuters.

"Any day of delays will unfortunately result in bigger delays and if the action continues beyond tomorrow, we will have a problem," Phasiwe said.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said it was prepared to go to court to compel Eskom to allow the locked-out workers to return to work so that they could earn their pay.

Eskom is facing a leadership crisis after four of its most senior executives were suspended, including the chief executive. Sources say the company's chairperson Zola Tsotsi could face a vote of no confidence.

Medupi, in central South Africa, and its sister coal-fired plant Kusile are seen as vital to Eskom in providing 10 000 megawatts of new power by 2020 as the troubled firm tries to reverse the worst power outages afflicting Africa's most advanced economy since 2008.

Eskom said it would cut power for the second consecutive day on Thursday due to supply shortages.

The utility has implemented controlled power cuts in Africa's most advanced economy this year to prevent the national grid from being overwhelmed. South Africa's government says the electricity outages are expected to last two years.

Standard and Poor's cut Eskom's credit status to junk last Thursday, saying the suspension of executives had caused a loss of confidence in the company's corporate governance.

Read this for free
South Africans need to be in the know if we want to create a prosperous future. News24 has kept the country informed for 25 years, and we're about to enter a new chapter of fearless journalism. Join our free subscription trial to unlock this story and a world of news aimed to inform, empower, and inspire.
Try our free 14-day trial
Already a subscriber? Sign in
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.90
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.84
+0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders