Vavi: Working class and poor need a voice on energy crisis

The electricity crisis hits the working class and the poor hardest‚ but they have been "locked out’ of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa the so-called war room‚ Zwelinzima Vavi said today.

Speaking at the Civil Society Conference on the Electricity Crisis in Johannesburg‚ the expelled general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions criticised the war room for excluding input from trade unions and civil society organisations.

Instead‚ he said‚ it comprises just government officials from the departments of public enterprises‚ energy‚ treasury and representatives from Business Unity South Africa.

"Since the beginning of the year‚ a number of trade unions and other civil society organisations who are represented here today have been talking about launching a campaign to deal with this electricity crisis‚" Vavi said.

"Now it is time to turn talk into deeds."

Vavi warned that if "an alternative worker and community agenda for sorting out the electricity mess" was not set up and implemented‚ "the consequences will be dire".

He also took issue with government plans to sell off the some of the power utility’s assets to raise funds‚ saying "those who have always wanted to see Eskom broken up and privatised will be emboldened".

"If they succeed‚" Vavi said‚ "Eskom will become a carcass for capitalist hyenas to feed on and get rich at the expense of the workers and consumers."

Vavi described as "outrageous denialism" President Jacob Zuma’s statements in Parliament that "our institutions are strong and sound" and that "all the arms of the state are functioning effectively".

He urged participants at Friday’s conference: "Regarding electricity our campaign must be vigilant to combat denialism or searching for scapegoats by the ‘war room’ over the Eskom crisis."

To achieve this‚ Vavi proposed a "massive campaign‚ including protests‚ litigation and lobbying of stakeholders‚ around the need for the working class and communities to strengthen our ability to impose our interests in long-term energy planning".

This‚ he said‚ should involve "a broad-based and inclusive organised social force‚ based on people’s power and workers’ power‚ to struggle for a working class agenda around electricity".

Vavi said there should also be a call for a "genuinely independent and preferably a judicial commission of enquiry to investigate the root causes" of the power crisis‚ including:

- the management of the utility’s contracts‚ apparent mismanagement and corruption within Eskom;

- cost and time overruns for Medupi and Kusile; and

- bonuses paid to Eskom directors and executives.

Vavi concluded by urging workers and communities to attend the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s public hearings to oppose the "ridiculous 25‚3% increase on electricity tariffs".

This will cause the closure of many marginal mines and small business‚ which "will mean exacerbating the crisis of unemployment‚ poverty and inequalities"‚ Vavi said.