Zuma visits Medupi

LEPHALALE – President Jacob Zuma attended the landmark opening of Medupi’s Unit 6 on Sunday. While the total cost for Medupi now stands R105-billion, Zuma said that the opening was the start of an important chapter in SA’s energy history.
“Shortage of energy is not just inconvenient but is also a serious impediment to economic growth,” Zuma said. “Before democracy we were told that there was no shortage of energy and that the country had enough to supply in everybody’s needs,” Zuma said.
“This was not true and we only gave Eskom the mandate to construct an adequate power station in 2005.”
Medupi’s unit 6 will add an estimated 794MW to the national grid. “This is an important milestone and we can already start to feel the impact in reducing and minimizing load shedding.”
Zuma said that during his tour of Medupi he felt good to find young men and women working with the most sophisticated machinery. “The construction of this unit is not only dealing with the energy crisis but is also helping to develop the skills of our people.”
Minister of public enterprises, Lynn Brown, said that it was a good day to celebrate. “Medupi is one of its kind in the southern hemisphere and upon completion will be the fourth largest in the world.”
According to Brian Molefe, acting CEO of Eskom, they learned a lot while constructing Medupi. “We will be beefing up our technology in the future and will be able to give advice to other African countries who embark on the same type of developments.”
Eskom prides itself on the fact that they contributed to the growth of Lephalale and the surrounding areas. “Even when the units are finished and we have to scale back on labour we will leave our workers with skills that they can use in other ventures,” Molefe said.
An estimated 40.86% of the labourers at Medupi are from the Lephalale area, 4.25% are from Limpopo and 7% are foreigners. “Because of the enormity of the project we allowed our mega contractors to bring 40% of their workforce from their country of origin, but stipulated that they should help to train our local people.”
“When employing artisans we open the market to all applicants but prioritize local people simply because it is more cost effective to employ somebody who is already residing in the area,” Molefe said.
Molefe also stated that the total cost for Medupi up to this stage is R105 billion. “We do regular reviews to establish that we are still within our budget and this includes all costs associated with the project even the cost of delays.”
During his speech the president urged workers to focus on completing Medupi without any further delays. “When the economy is sick we should come together and tighten our belts instead of demanding higher wages and risking job losses in the process.”
Meanwhile the EFF released a press statement earlier this week stating that they are unhappy with certain aspects of Medupi’s opening. “We are in possession of an audit report by Eskom that indicates that the 40.86% local employment figure given by the president is not true,” Sello Jan Moselane, EFF media liaison person in Lephalale, says.
Moselane also stated that they are not happy with the working conditions of Medupi workers and that Zuma should have visited the site while all the workers were present.