Eskom welcomes return of Medupi workers

Eskom's Medupi power station in Lephalale, Limpopo. File photo: Siphiwe Sibeko

Eskom's Medupi power station in Lephalale, Limpopo. File photo: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published May 19, 2015

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Johannesburg - Workers at Eskom’s Medupi power station have returned to work after a two-month-long strike, the power provider said on Tuesday.

“Eskom welcomes the return of more than 5 000 workers at the Medupi power station yesterday, a positive move that paves the way for the recovery of the past eight weeks of lost production time,” the embattled utility said in a statement.

Medupi has been marred by construction delays due to labour unrest. Workers were refusing to return to work until they were paid a R10 000 bonus.The workers defied a court order, obtained by Eskom contractors last month to force them to return to work.

Eskom said it returned to court last week to evict the workers from its accommodation areas. “The North Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of Eskom for the eviction of all persons residing in all three of Eskom’s accommodation areas around the Medupi power station, as well as interdicting the return of these employees back to the accommodation areas.”

“Numsa, which had appealed the eviction order, was ordered to pay Eskom’s legal costs.”

Eskom undertook to provide alternative accommodation after all identification of all the employees were conducted following the eviction. “Eskom would also conduct repairs to the properties that were damaged as a result of violence during the illegal strike action. Access control to all accommodation will be restored,” Eskom said.

Medupi, said Eskom, would consist of six units of approximately 794 MW each, with a total output of 4 764 MW. “This is approximately 12 percent of Eskom’s total installed capacity. The power station will also become the world’s fourth-largest coal-fired power plant, and the largest dry-cooled power station of its kind,” the power utility said.

ANA

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