Samwu blasts Gordhan over ‘proposed’ Eskom privatisation
JOBURG – As Eskom is hosting a series of public hearings on application for current tariff increases of 16.8 percent, South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) has learnt with shock media reports that the Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan has proposed the privatisation of the country’s power utility Eskom through the sale of a 49 percent stake to the private sector.
Samwu general secretary Simon Mathe said if indeed the media reports are correct, we commend Eskom CEO Brian Molefe for having rejected such a proposal but remain concerned that he does not think that it is opportune time to sell and that a good price would not be received is indication that he too is considering the sale. “We have for a long time held the finance minister in high regard especially when he was minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). His latest move has however become worrying for us as we are now convinced that the minister is not acting in the interest of the working class but that of his seemingly newly found capitalist friends,” Mathe said.
The union urged government to reject policies such as privations which are advanced by ‘International Financial Organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monitory Fund’. Mathe said, “We all know that such institutions have no interest of developing nations at heart but that of their capitalist friends who continue to own and control such institutions. The privatisation of Eskom be it partial or whole would be catastrophic to the country. Consumers would be the worst affected as the main aim of any capitalist institution is the maximisation of profits.”
He said the union was convinced that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) would not be able to put a capitalist Eskom in check, given the highly unaffordable increases which have been granted to Eskom in the past years.
The union, an affiliate to Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) an African National Congress (ANC) ally stated also stated that they were disappointed that during the ANC national executive council the minister proposed a cut on government social expenditure which includes health, education and social grants. “This is the same minister who introduced austerity measures for his fellow cabinet colleagues during his past tenure as the minister of finance yet such has not been abided to. We therefore propose that the minister should reconsider his recommendations including salary freeze and a salary cut for political office bearers as they as are unnecessarily overpaid while the people who are in the forefront of service delivery are overlooked,” Mathe said.
