The general secretary of South African Communist Party (SACP), Solly Mapaila says the tripartite alliance needs to convene a major alliance meeting to adress the country’s energy challeges as a matter of urgency.
Mapaila made the submission while addressing delegates at the 14th Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) national congress currently underway in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.
He says the privatisation of Eskom must be looked into as many, he says are profiteers from the rolling power cuts.
The party leader says the technological threat facing workers must also be on the table for deliberations.
“In the prioritisation of load shedding, we must also call for an end to privatisation of Eskom, including this process that we now see the profiteering on this continued load shedding,” Mapaila said.
The announcement by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to reconstitute the Eskom Board has been welcomed by Labour unions.
SACP has said the power utility failed to address the power supply challenges that have plagued the country for more than a decade.
The lack of board members with an engineering background has been cited among the reasons for Eskom’s failure to solve the electricity crisis affecting the country.
