Eskom sheds 2 000 jobs to contain bloated salary bill

South Africa’s embattled power utility, Eskom, shed about 2 000 jobs in the past year to curb its bloated salary bill, signalling what could be the beginning of the jobs bloodbath at the utility.

DESPITE 2 000 JOBS SHED THE UTILITY REMAINS OVERSTAFFED

Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andre de Ruyter revealed in a panel hosted by the Free Market Foundation on Monday, 15 February, that currently the utility has 44 000 employees, when the ideal number is 38 000 people.

He did not elaborate if the utility intends on shedding further jobs to reach this ideal number. De Ruyter says the job shed at Eskom happened via retirement and voluntary severance packages. Furthermore he used the platform to dispel rumours senior management received pay increments and bonuses when the state entity’s financial positioning remains vulnerable.

LOAD SHEDDING RISK UPPED BY ROBUST MAINTENACE PROGRAMME

De Ruyter says their robust maintenance programme at their plants was upping the risk of load shedding and expectations are that load shedding risk will be reduced come September 2021.

The CEO’s comments come after Eskom acknowledged a concerning report shared by the Koeberg Alert Alliance, which revealed the extent of structural damage at the Cape Town-based Koeberg plant. The building which houses the nuclear reactor has reportedly suffered ‘substantial damage’ – and the utility has confirmed that tests and assessments are ongoing.

The plant is coming towards the end of its intended lifespan, meaning that maintenance issues are becoming more and more prevalent. The firm is keen to extend Koeberg’s operations past 2024 – the year it was scheduled to be decommissioned. However, no decision will be taken officially until all assessments of the plant have been completed.

ESKOM OWED R36 BILLION BY MUNICIPALITIES

De Ruyter further raised the issue of debt owed to Eskom, with municipalities owing the entity R36 billion. This as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has given the power utility the go-ahead to increase electricity prices by 10% from 1 April onwards.

There are now murmurs that the cash-strapped power utility is looking into passing through an additional 10% increase in electricity prices, meaning South Africans could be paying 20% more than they are currently for their electricity, come the beginning of April.

Those off the grid will also be impacted by the proposed hike. This is all in an effort to reclaim R6,6 billion the utility needs to cover its costs to operate.

2 000 JOBS SHED THE BEGINNING OF THE BLOODBATH?

There is no indication the utility has started looking at further downsizing staff, despite de Ruyter’s remarks.