Trade union Solidarity will disclose particulars regarding its court application against Eskom’s current affirmative action plan at a media conference on Wednesday, 27 May. In the court documents to be disclosed at the conference, Solidarity calls on the Labour Court to declare the power utility’s affirmative action plan invalid in its entirety. The union believes that this plan contravenes the Employment Equity Act.

The premise of Solidarity’s court application is that Eskom had not sufficiently consulted with the parties concerned regarding its new affirmative action plan before the plan was finalised. In addition, Solidarity believes that Eskom’s plan does not take other relevant factors such as the available pool of people with appropriate qualifications into account.

If Solidarity’s application is successful, it could have far-reaching consequences for the entire public sector as the affirmative action policies of other government institutions are based on the same principle.

Petition campaign for legalising independent electricity generation

At the conference, and in collaboration with KragDag, Solidarity will also disclose particulars regarding a petition campaign on independent power supply. The purpose of the petition is to exert pressure on government to repeal the regulations hampering independent electricity generation.

“On the one hand, we want to call Eskom to order, so that it would review its affirmative action plan and irrational race targets, in order to prevent the company from losing much-needed expertise. On the other hand, we want to empower our communities and encourage them to supply electricity proactively and independently. The public simply cannot remain fully dependent on Eskom to supply all the electricity they need,” explained Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Johan Kruger.

Members of the media are invited to attend the conference.

Clarifying information to journalists on the contents of the case:

Date: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Time: 10:00 - 10:30
Venue: Karee Boardroom, Solidarity Head Office, cnr D.F. Malan and Eendracht Streets, Kloofsig, Centurion.

Introduction of the petition campaign for legalising independent electricity generation:  

Time: 10:30 – 10:45         

Please confirm your attendance with inge.strydom@solidariteit.co.za.

Johan Kruger
Deputy General Secretary: Solidarity
Cell: 082 305 5381

Dirk Groenewald
Head: Centre for Fair Labour Practices, Solidariteit
Cell: 082 781 4155