Eskom Says Some South Africa Power Stations Hindered by Protests

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Some South African power stations are operating below full strength as workers protest state-owned Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.’s insistence that it won’t offer pay increases.

All the facilities are still running though, and the company, which supplies most of South Africa’s electricity, is determined to “keep the lights on,” Chief Executive Officer Phakamani Hadebe told reporters in Johannesburg.

The company is implementing contingency plans and will get court orders to stop the protests if needed, he said.

Police surrounded five of Eskom’s stations earlier when protesters tried to block other employees from arriving for night shifts and the company said Wednesday morning that protests were continuing at four of the facilities.

Wage talks between Eskom and unions broke down last week, with labor organizations saying they’re planning a protest march on Thursday. Because the power producer is considered to provide an essential service, legally workers are not permitted to strike.

The utility is taking measures to improve its finances as demand has lagged since rolling blackouts in 2015 curbed the country’s economic growth. In addition to scrutinizing its business model, it’s reining in costs.

Naspers Climbs
Naspers Ltd. shares rose after Africa’s largest company said it expects to report core earnings growth for the just-ended fiscal year, bolstered by the sale of a stake in Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The South African media and investment company raised HK$76.9 billion ($9.8 billion) in March by selling a 2 percent stake in Tencent. The shares rose 0.8 percent to 3,379 rand 3:40 p.m. in Johannesburg.

Naspers has said it would use the money from the sale of Tencent shares to invest in its classifieds, online food delivery and financial technology businesses and make other investments. It plans to release earnings around June 22 for the year ended March 31.

Growth also will be boosted because the company changed the way it calculates core headline earnings, Naspers said in a statement Wednesday. Besides its stake in Tencent, which operates the WeChat messaging service, Naspers owns newspapers, operates pay-television services and has investments in a range of internet companies.

Source: Bloomberg Business News