THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday it was disappointed by Eskom executives’ decision to award themselves a R6m bonus per person from a pool of R1.7bn.
The NUM is currently engaged in wage negotiations, and will meet on Friday next week to discuss the "conduct of the executives", whom it alleged were seeking to undermine wage talks.
Mandating on Eskom’s l%-7% wage offer would continue before negotiations resume on July 13, the union said.
NUM energy sector co-ordinator Paris Mashego said in a statement that the union "is extremely disturbed by the comments made by the Eskom’s spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe, who said the 7% wage increase tabled by Eskom will lead to deeper cost cuts.
"Eskom is not cash-strapped. It is profitable. Evidence of financial stability could be derived from Eskom’s advance payment of R578m to Tegeta, a Gupta-family-controlled company supplying the utility’s Arnot coal-fired facility in Mpumalanga."
In the 2013-14 financial year, Eskom opted to forgo bonuses due to the financial pressure on the utility.
Phasiwe said on Friday information on the annual bonuses would be made available when the entity released its annual report in July.
In a subsequent statement, Eskom sought to emphasise that it had been open and transparent regarding executive pay, and would release that information in July.
Phasiwe also slapped down claims by the NUM that an Eskom executive had said that black female employees were poor performers and therefore deserved below the minimum salary increase.
"Based on this shared responsibility, the recent statement by NUM is therefore inaccurate, malicious and misleading. Eskom remains committed to the advancement of women, especially black women," Eskom said
