June 29 (Reuters) – South African state energy firm Eskom stated on Wednesday that there was nonetheless a excessive degree of absenteeism amongst its workforce as a consequence of a strike and that it may take weeks to clear a upkeep backlog.
Eskom added in an announcement that as beforehand communicated it could resume so-called ‘Stage 6’ energy cuts from 1600 till 2200 native time (1400 till 2000 GMT) on Wednesday, a degree of outages solely beforehand seen in December 2019 earlier than this week.
Stage 6 energy cuts, which had been additionally applied on Tuesday, imply not less than six hours of energy cuts a day for many South Africans. Learn full story
“On account of the illegal strike, routine upkeep work has needed to be postponed. This backlog will take days to weeks to clear,” Eskom stated.
Learn extra: South Africa to see repeat of worst energy cuts but
“It’s due to this fact vital to notice that the system will stay constrained and susceptible to extra breakdowns whereas restoration actions are in progress.”
Wage talks between Eskom and commerce unions reached a impasse final week, after which some employees began hanging regardless of a court docket interdict blocking them from doing so.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan stated on Tuesday that Eskom and unions had agreed a wage settlement at a gathering on Tuesday that they might decide to later, however Eskom’s two largest unions later denied an settlement had been reached.
The Nationwide Union of Mineworkers and Nationwide Union of Metalworkers of South Africa stated a brand new wage supply from Eskom nonetheless wanted to be mentioned with union members and at a bargaining discussion board on Friday.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian in Gdansk and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Writing by Nellie Peyton in Dakar; Enhancing by Alexander Successful)
