Solidarity prepares for a court battle to exempt Eskom from BEE

The trade Union Solidarity is preparing for a court case to exempt Eskom from Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements.

ESKOM IS STILL PURSUING A RACE PROGRAMME

According to Solidarity, BEE costs Eskom billions. They said a tariff increase would not have been necessary if Eskom did not have to meet all the racial requirements involved in procurement.

“Eskom wants to kick out another 500 white maintenance staff, says trade union Solidarity.

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ESKOM PLANS TO KICK OUT 500 WHITE MALES BY 2025

Solidarity says the ailing state power utility Eskom wants to eliminate another 500 white males by 2025. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the union says this was according to Eskom’s latest race plan for 2023 to 2025.

“This s mainly persons responsible for maintenance work,” the union said.

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SOLIDARITY ASKED ESKOM FOR A MORATORIUM ON BEE APPOINTMENTS

“Eskom has learned nothing from this. It is still pursuing its race programme, even in the dark,” Solidarity Chief Executive Dr. Dirk Hermann Solidarity said.

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Solidarity has now asked Eskom for a moratorium on race-based appointments at Eskom to help address the power crisis.

Herman said there is a need in South Africa to deploy the best possible skills in jobs regardless of race.

Herman said there are competent black and white artisans at Eskom and out there, and those are the people Eskom should recruit based on their ability to help solve the power crisis without looking at the colour of their skin. Solidarity also reserves the right to go to court should Eskom continue implementing its race targets.

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“We do not see in the plan that Eskom plans to address its skills challenges. This plan is all about skin colour at various job levels. Eskom has just announced a huge tariff increase, but instead of addressing its skills problem, Eskom is only paying attention to race targets.”

Dirk Herman

“These absurd race targets come amid the fact that power station maintenance is one of Eskom’s major challenges,” Herman said.

“Eskom should now focus on one thing only, and that is not race but power. South Africans do not need race targets but light in their homes and power for their businesses.”

Dirk Herman

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“Targets such as these discourage existing staff members and imply that competent white persons cannot apply for jobs to help solve the crisis. Also, it makes it nearly impossible to appoint some of the hundreds of experts who have offered their services to assist Eskom because they have the wrong skin colour.”

Dirk Heman

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