Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has asked trade union Solidarity to provide a list of people with the necessary technical skills to help government address the skills crisis at Eskom.

On 14 July, Gordhan wrote to the managing director of Solidarity, Dirk Hermann, to thank the trade union for its offer in May this year to mobilise critical skills.

The minister informed Hermann that Eskom required power station engineers - including mechanical, nuclear, electrical, system and maintenance skills, as well as senior artisans and plant operators for coal and nuclear power stations.

Gordhan wrote:

Due to the urgency of assistance required from Eskom, can you kindly provide the list of names of engineers and technical experts that can be deployed to Eskom to address the generation performance challenges facing the company.

He was responding to a letter from Hermann, dated 25 May this year, sent to Gordhan shortly after his budget vote speech in Parliament. Gordhan had indicated that Eskom lacked engineering and technical skills.

"Since 2000, Eskom has implemented a radical transformation programme to accelerate the transformation process at the state-owned enterprise at a cost of approximately R1.8 billion, while this programme has in fact reduced Eskom’s engineering and technical skills base," Hermann wrote.

Solidarity had previously offered to assist government in redeploying skilled and experienced engineers, and in the past, set up a skills database for its members and others to register their experience and qualifications.

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In 2019, the union provided Gordhan with a list of 705 names - consisting of individuals holding a cumulative 731 accredited qualifications, with a combined work experience of more than 500 years - but nothing happened. A total of 30% of the names were engineers, 50% were specialised and skilled artisans, and a further 20% had general skills.

"We cannot discuss the current Eskom skills crisis without looking at the historic context. Eskom was reckless in the implementation of a transformation programme and, since 2000, they offered packages to skilled Eskom workers to make space, in today’s money approximately R1.8 billion was paid out," Hermann told News24 on Wednesday.

"The loss of skills also led to a loss of institutional knowledge – and it was just too much, too fast. Even as recently as 2017, Eskom had made provision in its affirmative action plans to get rid of another 1 700 engineers and artisans. The role of an aggressive racial transformation programme in the current skills crisis, which encompasses the current load shedding crisis, cannot therefore be denied," he added.

Between May and July, Hermann said, Solidarity added another 450 names to its 2019 list, after calling for people to put their names forward. The trade union said it would now set up a panel and whittle down the 1 100-plus list to the top 100 people - the best of the best.

He said:

We will look at people with decades of experiences, often with more than one qualification - those with the most sought-after skills available in the country. These top 100 change agents will have the ability to make tangible contributions to turn Eskom around.

"The question is, if the political will truly exists from government and Eskom to accept these individuals with open arms, and to give them the opportunity to help turn it around?

"We have a lot of appreciation for the fact that these people who have indicated their willingness to assist are not bitter about the past and how recklessly skills were dealt with according to racial ideologies. These are people putting up their hands with positive intentions, to say, here we are, we are ready to help solve the crisis," Hermann said.

Solidarity said it would wait another week or so to allow more time for those with skills and experience to add their names to the list.

News24 has asked Gordhan’s office to confirm whether he has written to any other trade unions or professional bodies, and this story will be updated when a response is received.