Trade union Solidarity has warned that the country’s electricity crisis is bigger than initially anticipated and will last for a long time.
The union said that although the crisis was Eskom’s doing, it is in everyone’s interest to keep the lights on, making a public appeal to all South Africans including politicians and public figures to unite to alleviate electricity supply.
Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann said during a press conference in Pretoria on Thursday, that although Solidarity is critical of Eskom, it is loyal to South Africa.
Eskom on Thursday again warned that power supply would be constrained leading into the weekend, having implemented yet another round of load-shedding, on Friday, last week.
Earlier this month a coal storage silo at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga collapsed, resulting in widespread power cuts. The silo held more than 10 000 tons of coal and affected coal supplies to all six units at the power station.
An investigation into the collapsed silo is underway.
On Tuesday, the power utility reported a profit of R9.3 billion for the first six months of the financial year, down 24% from the R12.2 billion for the same period last year.
The group said it expects a year end profit of R500 million, down from R5.18 billion in 2013.
Eskom also confirmed that it has asked its staff to consider voluntary retrenchment packages amid deepening financial woes.
Published via businesstech.co.za
