The DA condemns NUM’s threats of national sabotage at Eskom

31 October 2019

On Wednesday, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) vowed to cause more rolling blackouts should Government go ahead with its plans to unbundle Eskom; a contemptible threat to the stability of our nation. The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns these remarks in the strongest terms.

This is a brazen attempt to hold Government, the nation and our battered economy to ransom. It amounts to a threat to our national security. The DA expects that the ANC government should immediately condemn these threats of national sabotage as we have done.

NUM displays absolutely no consideration for what restructuring at Eskom may achieve to steady and rectify the crippled entity.

South Africa has been reeling on the edge of economic collapse due to the damage caused by the rolling blackouts. The failings at the power utility remain the single biggest threat to our economy, with every single blackout estimated to cost the economy a staggering R1 billion per day.

The threat made by NUM of purposefully plunging the country into darkness clearly demonstrates how out of touch they are with the problems faced by South Africans due to the systematic failures at Eskom. Economists and analysists have warned of a possible ratings downgrade on Friday which could see South Africa categorised as “junk”. These threats by NUM will certainly not inspire any confidence as that decision is made.

Our economy cannot grow when we are held ransom by unions who cripple SOE’s when they feel their demands are not met.  It is not normal and nor should it ever be accepted as such.

It is critical for its survival that Eskom is unbundled, and Government cannot by any means be deterred by NUM’s alarmist and anarchic folly. The DA will certainly not allow ideological battles between the ANC and its alliance partners to cause any more damage to our economy than they already have. But will President Ramaphosa’s ANC government stand up to the unions and put the nation first, or will it roll over to the union threats?

Eskom cannot continue on its current trajectory. It needs a complete overhaul and must be split into a generation entity completely independent from a distribution/transmission entity to have any chance of survival. The DA’s Cheaper Electricity Bill proposes exactly this and was recently tabled in Parliament. We call on our colleagues from across the political divide to support this Bill as it is in the best interest of all South Africans.

Issued by Kevin Mileham, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, 31 October 2019