Eskom is scheduled to go to the labour court in Johannesburg on Friday in an attempt to prevent strikes at its power plants, but workers are threatening to leave the country in the dark regardless of the outcome.
Strikes have already taken place this week at four key Eskom plants, putting strain on an overstretched power grid.
In papers filed this week, Eskom said it wanted the court to declare any strike by its workers unprotected, on the basis that it is a ?designated essential service provider. It also wants to compel unions to issue a statement urging workers to remain at their posts.
But the unions say they have no intention of doing so, and that it would not make a difference anyway.
"Workers are very angry," said Stephen Nhlapo, chief negotiator for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), when asked about the possibility of further wildcat strikes. "Workers are so angry that it might come to that."
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the other major union at Eskom, offered even more dire warnings.
Insulting
When asked if industrial action could lead to blackouts, NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said: "Of course. No two ways about it, we are going to be in the dark if these guys go on strike. Our members have told us in no uncertain terms that they want to strike."
The two unions say Eskom has offered workers a 5.6% increase, linked to a five-year wage deal, and has threatened to implement it unilaterally in the absence of an agreement. Both have described the offer as insulting, and warned that members will never accept it.
In court papers, Eskom disclosed it had already seen short-lived strikes at four of its major power stations: Matimba, Duvha, Matla and Hendrina. Numsa and NUM said workers there were already back at work, but that unhappiness at other power stations would likely see work stoppages, regardless of what the labour court decrees.
"If you look at what happened in Marikana, it was the result of that kind of attitude of employers being legalistic in their approach," said Seshoka. "They think they can go to the court … that does not work."
The four power stations that have already seen strikes have a combined capacity of 13?190 megawatts, making up a substantial part of Eskom's total electricity generation. During recent cold snaps, the available supply of electricity regularly outstripped demand by less than 2?000MW, which means a complete outage at any of the four power stations could have required rolling blackouts.
Eskom has previously warned that its available power margin had dipped close to the point where it would have to implement "load shedding", but vowed to do everything in its power to keep the lights on.
Constitutional right
In response to questions, Eskom on Thursday said all was quiet at the four power stations, but that there had been picketing "at a couple of other" stations in recent days.
"Security of supply remains a priority for Eskom," it said in a written reply. "All of our power stations are operating normally."
In its founding affidavit before the court, Eskom said it was concerned that the two unions would not commit to keeping members in check.
"[Eskom] contents [sic] that the time has come in our labour relations history for trade unions to be held accountable for the actions of their members," writes Eskom employee relations manager Phillip Mashego in the affidavit.
"Trade unions can not glibly wash their hands off [sic] the violent and/or unlawful actions of their members. They must take responsibility to inform their members of the parameters of their constitutional right to embark on industrial action."
The only union to take that argument to heart so far has been Solidarity, which this week confirmed it had committed to telling members they "should not embark on any unprotected strike action". Solidarity is numerically a minor union at Eskom, but holds that its members occupy key positions.
Numsa and NUM, on the other hand, said they would not necessarily oppose Eskom's interdict request, but both bristled at the suggestion that a company, via the courts, could tell them what to tell their members.
Workers start to down tools
Tentative strikes started at South African Airways and Telkom this week as wage negotiations in a range of industries deadlocked, while workers on a wildcat strike continued to block access to a gold mine in Limpopo. At Telkom, the South African Communications Union organised lunchtime pickets and threatened to increase the level of work stoppage.
SAA on Thursday said a strike by cabin crew and ground staff had not yet disrupted flights, but the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union warned it could intensify its action. Picketing at the Consolidated Murchison gold mine remained isolated, but mines expressed concern about unrealistic demands from workers.