The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has denied Eskom's accusations that workers who have embarked on an illegal strike were responsible for plunging the country into stage 6 load-shedding.
The union is instead alleging that the load-shedding was caused by Eskom closing down a number of functional units at some of its power stations.
"Eskom is busy closing down units in some power stations that are leading to Eskom losing a lot of megawatts out of the grid," NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu told SowetanLIVE on Thursday.
"At Komati power station, eight out of nine units have been closed down by Eskom and the megawatt hours that have been lost are 1,200. At Hendrina power station, two units have been closed down and 480 megawatt hours of power have been lost out of the grid. Almost 2,000 megawatt hours have been lost out of the grid," he said.
Mammburu's allegation came after Eskom announced on the day that it was imposing stage 6 loadshedding from 2pm until 12 midnight on Thursday. Eskom had earlier in the week been running stage 6 between 4pm and 12 midnight.
The power utility has been blaming the electricity crisis on the workers who have embarked on the illegal strike.
"We are not going to accept the excuse of Eskom blaming workers for stage 6. It's a lie," Mammburu said.
Mammburu said the majority of workers were back at work. "But we are facing challenges in power stations like Arnot, Hendrina, Matla and Lethabo. The workers are trying to normalise the situation there. But they say they can't normalise the situation when there is no wage agreement signed between the unions and Eskom. They say they don't trust the Eskom management." he said.
Workers are demanding a 10% wage increase while Eskom is offering 5.3%.
NUM slams claims that striking workers caused stage 6 power cuts
Image: Thulani Mbele
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has denied Eskom's accusations that workers who have embarked on an illegal strike were responsible for plunging the country into stage 6 load-shedding.
The union is instead alleging that the load-shedding was caused by Eskom closing down a number of functional units at some of its power stations.
"Eskom is busy closing down units in some power stations that are leading to Eskom losing a lot of megawatts out of the grid," NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu told SowetanLIVE on Thursday.
"At Komati power station, eight out of nine units have been closed down by Eskom and the megawatt hours that have been lost are 1,200. At Hendrina power station, two units have been closed down and 480 megawatt hours of power have been lost out of the grid. Almost 2,000 megawatt hours have been lost out of the grid," he said.
Mammburu's allegation came after Eskom announced on the day that it was imposing stage 6 loadshedding from 2pm until 12 midnight on Thursday. Eskom had earlier in the week been running stage 6 between 4pm and 12 midnight.
The power utility has been blaming the electricity crisis on the workers who have embarked on the illegal strike.
"We are not going to accept the excuse of Eskom blaming workers for stage 6. It's a lie," Mammburu said.
Mammburu said the majority of workers were back at work. "But we are facing challenges in power stations like Arnot, Hendrina, Matla and Lethabo. The workers are trying to normalise the situation there. But they say they can't normalise the situation when there is no wage agreement signed between the unions and Eskom. They say they don't trust the Eskom management." he said.
Workers are demanding a 10% wage increase while Eskom is offering 5.3%.
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