Pravin ‘provoking workers’ – Gordhan slammed for saying Eskom ‘wage agreement reached’

The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have slammed Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan for announcing that a wage agreement has been reached between the unions and Eskom.

Gordhan on Tuesday during a media briefing said an agreement had been reached with unions to bring the illegal industrial action by Eskom employees to an end.

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

The unions say they noted the comments made by Gordhan and want to set the record straight.

“We have not come to any agreement with Eskom, an offer was tabled which members are engaging on. For the next few days, we will be consulting members to find out if they accept the proposal or not. We will meet on Friday 1 July at the Central Bargaining Forum where we will formally respond to it as parties.”

The unions have condemned Gordhan and want him to retract his comments on the so-called agreement.

“We demand that minister Pravin Gordhan withdraw his statement about an agreement immediately. He is jeopardising talks by pre-empting the outcome. Our members have not even had the chance to see the proposal and he is rushing to the media to claim there is an agreement. We condemn him for his reckless behaviour.”

“He is provoking workers at Eskom and his comments have the potential to collapse this entire negotiation process,” said the unions.

Earlier, Gordhan said the illegal industrial action by Eskom employees was the major cause of stage 6 load shedding in the country.

Gordhan said the strike by Eskom employees has worsened the production of electricity.

“The illegal industrial action is the major cause of Stage 6. It has worsened the production of electricity. Stage 6 means 6 000MW cannot be provided by Eskom. Demand is about 32 000 MW. Eskom can only supply 6 000MW less than that.”

Gordhan added that government was doing everything possible to assist Eskom with its challenges and that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been fully briefed on what happened with Eskom.

ALSO READ: Eskom implements stage 6 load shedding from 4pm until 10pm on Tuesday