Staff Reporter.
Power utility Eskom has a critical skills shortfall that is threatening to become racialised at a time when the country is struggling to produce power.
The Sunday Times reports that more than 60% of all technical employees leaving Eskom have between 11 and more than 30 years’ experience, while 80% of those who replace them have less than 10 years’ experience.
Several senior leaders within the organisation have reportedly flagged disagreements emerging along racial lines after public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan called for employees with experience to return to the group.
One insider told the paper: “You know when you talk about the issue of skills at Eskom, even at executive level, it depends on whether you’re speaking to a black person or a white person, and you will hear a different answer.
“There is a feeling that when whites say there are no skills, they are talking about blacks who are now in charge of most of these power stations. The blacks feel that the whites only say this because they do not recognise their capacity.”
Another said: “The view from human resources is that Eskom should not talk about the lack of skills and how this contributes to load shedding because it will anger some of the unions who feel that it is a concession that the aggressive affirmative action and employment equity that was implemented in the past has failed.”
“It takes on average eight years to train an external cadet to become a proficient panel operator. [The] trainer pipeline was no more, and some stations ended up with no one to train recruits, “Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.
Gordhan this week sent a letter to trade union Solidarity, asking for its assistance in addressing the skills shortfall at Eskom.
The letter, which is addressed to Solidarity’s chief executive Dirk Hermann, thanked the union for its offer of assistance and asked Solidarity to compile a list of engineers and technical experts to assist.
Gordhan added that specific skills that Eskom is looking for include:
°Power station engineers (mechanical, electrical, nuclear, system, and maintenance);
°Senior artisans;
°Plant operators (coal and nuclear).
Eskom’s chief executive André de Ruyter said in July that he plans to bring back artisans and engineers as mentors.
“We are now in the process of bringing in previous employees. It has been difficult due to legacy race issues, which are still sensitive and we cannot be oblivious to that. But from the perspective of the shareholder, there has been strong support for this on the basis that they come in to transfer skills.”
The ANC suggested a mentorship programme at Eskom as part of its list of recommendations to fix the state company, published earlier this month.
Presenting his Budget Vote for the 2022/23 financial year in May, Gordhan said that Eskom’s generation is under-performing with the Energy Availability Factor languishing at 58% YTD, as opposed to a target of 75%.
The minister said that a lack of engineering and technical skills and experience in Eskom remains a significant challenge. “These are pre-requisites for a major industrial operation like Eskom.”
Chief executive of African Rainbow Energy & Power, and former boss at Eskom, Brian Dames said that South Africa has the capacity to fix Eskom, but it will need to rely on skills that have already left the country.
Speaking to radio station 702 at the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in May, Dames said the current crisis at Eskom was equivalent to a ‘state of emergency’, but there is the capacity to address these issues.
“Eskom is fixable – and we have to (fix) it. We have to bring back the skills, and there are people who have done it and can do it – and they are all South African. I have given a list of names and they are doing exactly what they were doing in South Africa in other parts of the world,” he said.
Compiled by Lehlohonolo Lehana.