Eskom employees returned to work on Wednesday following a week-long unprotected wage strike at nine of the utility’s power stations, said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.
“I can confirm that many employees are peacefully returning to work and that there are no incidents of protest reported so far today [Wednesday],” said Mantshantsha, noting that the details of the wage negotiations would be made known on Friday.
Eskom is currently offering a below-inflation wage hike of 4.7% to its employees while the unions demand a 12% wage increment.
The protest with unplanned breakdowns resulted in the rolling out of stage-six loadshedding by Eskom on Tuesday, which was last implemented in 2019.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday blamed the striking workers for the implementation of stage-six power cuts, criticising them for intimidating those who wanted to report for duty.
The National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa have since urged their members members to return to work immediately.
Meanwhile, stage-four loadshedding is set to continue. “Loadshedding is a controlled way and legal requirement to make sure that the national power system remains stable in the case of major incidents – to avoid a total countrywide blackout,” said Eskom.
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