Eskom employees return to work, but load shedding goes on

Eskom confirmed on Wednesday morning that striking employees are returning to work following wage discussions between trade unions and the dark lords of Megawatt Park.

The country was plunged into stage six load shedding on Tuesday, which Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan blamed on the illegal industrial action by Eskom employees.

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On Wednesday, the National Union of Mineworkers (Num) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) also confirmed they met with Eskom executives, including Chief Executive Officer, Andre de Ruyter, to discuss the current deadlock in the wage negotiations between the parties.

Both unions confirmed the meeting registered considerable progress in that negotiations have been able to break ground with a new offer which will be tabled at the Central Bargaining Forum (CBF) on Friday.

It is understood that Eskom has now revised its offer to workers to a 7% wage increase after talks between unions and Eskom collapsed last week.

The power utility had offered a 5.3% increase.

In a statement, the unions said they would consult with workers on the new offer that is a product of negotiations between the two associations and Eskom over the past two days to break the current deadlock.

In a short WhatsApp message on Wednesday, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha confirmed that employees are returning to their posts.

“I can confirm that many employees are peacefully returning to work and that there are no incidents of protest reported so far today. The details of any wage offer will be made known on Friday when the negotiations resume.”

Meanwhile, as Eskom employees return to work, load shedding will unfortunately continue.

The princes of darkness at Megawatt Park said they would reduce load shedding to stage two until 5 am on Wednesday after it implemented stage six on Tuesday.

According to Eskom, from 5 am until 4 pm on Wednesday, stage 4 load shedding will be implemented, while stage six will resume from 4 pm until 10 pm.

ALSO READ: Eskom reaches wage agreement with unions to end strike – Gordhan