Eskom resumes construction work at most sites
Work has resumed at parastatal Eskom’s construction sites across the country, besides Ingula, following a temporary suspension of activities on November 1 to assess the safety conditions across all operations.
Construction at Eskom’s Ingula underground pumped-storage construction site, near Ladysmith, in KwaZulu-Natal, however, remains suspended pending the outcomes of continuing investigations by the Department of Mineral Resources and corporate law firm Webber Wentzel into the death of six workers at the site last month.
CEO Brian Dames announced on November 1 that construction at all Eskom construction sites would be halted indefinitely to assess working conditions.
“At the moment, project timelines are the least of our concerns, they are not our priority. The work stoppages will last [until] every Eskom manager and contractor is comfortable that the existing security and safety systems are in place,” he said at a press briefing at the time.
While Dames would not at the time elaborate on the length of the suspension, an Eskom spokesperson told Engineering News Online on Monday that work across most of the energy utility’s construction sites was only halted for a few hours that afternoon, with a return to full construction by the following Monday, November 4.
Six workers, who were employed by a subcontractor, were killed at Ingula when an 8 t gantry, or platform, came loose from its anchoring and travelled at speed down a 938-m-high inclined underground shaft, connecting with a monorail used to transport workers, as well as two other gantries on which employees were standing.
Four of the deceased were foreign nationals, while two were South African citizens.
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