Power supply in South Africa has been under more strain than usual. With stage six loadshedding confirmed, ongoing strikes further compromise the state of the grid. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter is reportedly in talks with unions to try and resolve the wage negotiation.
The ongoing strikes have been described as ‘highly regrettable’ by De Ruyter as several power stations are left understaffed, as per Eyewitness News.
“At Lethabo, we have seen some pretty severe incidents of intimidation. Four homes of plant operators have been attacked by petrol bombs overnight, and about 70 maintenance staff are absent,” De Ruyter explained.
In De Ruyters’s talks with union leaders, he had called on strikers to desist from the unlawful action.
“We really are seized with the matter to try and resolve the dispute with labour as quickly as possible. I don’t want the impression to be created that we are only going to be negotiating by Friday. We are going to be negotiating today,” De Ruyter said.
Eskom has reported returning three units to power, and another three of the 10 units that tripped on Monday night should return on Tuesday.
“Three of the 10 generation units that had tripped during the night have been returned to service. This, however, is still insufficient to stave off the implementation of Stage 6 load shedding for this evening and tomorrow evening,” reports Eyewitness News.
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