Johannesburg – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says it “notes with grave concern” the Pretoria High Court’s decision to reject the R54 billion settlement between Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
Commenting on the matter on Christmas Day, the NUM said it views the legal challenge brought by AfriForum as an “unpatriotic and counter-revolutionary act designed to destabilise the national utility”.
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The union said the move was a threat to Eskom’s survival.
“Eskom’s ability to function is contingent on its capacity to recover legitimate ‘pass-through’ costs via tariffs,” NUM said.
The current financial crisis is a direct byproduct of neoliberal policies that forced Eskom to purchase electricity from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) at a premium rate while being mandated to sell it to the public at below the cost of production.
“The NUM has long warned that the introduction of IPPs would erode Eskom’s financial foundation,” said Khangela Baloyi, NUM Energy Sector Coordinator.
“While we have always been concerned about the burden pass-through costs place on the end-user, the reality is that if Eskom cannot recover these costs, it will face total collapse—mirroring the tragic decline of other State-Owned Companies (SOCs).”
The NUM said it maintains that the unbundling of Eskom and the introduction of independent power, transmission, and trading entities is a failed experiment.
“These policies serve a neoliberal agenda that is fundamentally at odds with South Africa’s vision of a developmental state,” NUM said.
“We call on the South African government to: Review the unbundling process and the reliance on IPPs that drain Eskom’s resources.
“Protect the national grid from ideological legal challenges that prioritise
profit over national energy security.
“Recommit to a strong, vertically integrated state utility capable of driving
economic growth.”
The NUM said it remains committed to defending Eskom and its workers against “any ideology or legal maneuver that seeks to destroy the backbone of our economy”.
