Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) acknowledges the mobilisation of the engineering task team, many of whom were sourced from BUSA, to assess challenges at Eskom’s power stations. The focus on power stations is critical.

BUSA recognises that the timeframe that has been announced of four weeks underscores the urgency of the situation, but would hope that the mandate can be extended, as required, to ensure that the benefits of such an intervention can be optimised. It is also crucial to receive regular reports from the task team to ensure transparency and appraise all stakeholders of progress.

The organisation acknowledges that this intervention is limited to some elements of the nine-point generation turnaround plan, which is one of several required to address the many challenges confronting Eskom.  BUSA is currently engaging with the Government and other relevant parties to formulate an intervention plan which addresses all key issues.

BUSA emphasises that comprehensive and sustained consultation is required regarding interventions from key stakeholders, in order to ensure an integrated and holistic process to maximise efficiency and minimise omissions or duplication.

BUSA Vice-President Martin Kingston said: “We have consistently called for the business community to put its shoulder to the wheel by working alongside other social partners in tackling the challenges posed to the economy by Eskom’s current circumstances. This intervention needs to be aligned with other initiatives to maximise the impact of such collaboration.”