Eskom has ramped up training and implementation of initiatives to create jobs at the decommissioned Komati power station in Mpumalanga.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday, Eskom Human Resources leader Elsie Pule said the utility was addressing concerns of the Komati shutdown being unjust. Eskom has started training community members living around power stations to equip them with new skills.
The utility admitted that there were some errors during the station’s shutdown. Still, it was trying to address the impact felt by community members after the power station’s shutdown which many called unjust.
Pule said one of the initiatives was training community members to become professional welders and gain skills to become employable in Eskom’s plants or in the economy.
“We have identified those that can be trained, after receiving 120 CVs we’re going to be training them to be welders. But they will also have opportunities in renewable [energy], like solar and piping.”
She added that it was an opportunity to train people and teach them skills from the bottom. “You can still use the skill in the community so that the economy in that area is facilitated,” she said.
She said other initiatives are an agri-voltaics project (solar PV panels positioned above agricultural fields), a training facility and a containerised microgrid assembly plant. These are to be running by between August 2023 and mid-2024.
Community unhappy
Communities living in Mpumalanga’s coal industry near Komati have expressed concern over delays with Eskom’s just energy transition plans to bring new opportunities and “green jobs” to this part of the country, which is the first to be affected by the country’s gradual move from a coal-dominated to a renewables energy mix.
The department of mineral resources and energy notes that the economy of Mpumalanga is dominated by the coal sector, mining and power generation. It accounts for 80% of coal production by volume — 12 of Eskom’s 15 power stations are located in the province.
The main concern was that the Komati community will become a ghost town after the power station was shut down, leaving people destitute.
Komati power station is a prototype for testing its energy transition plans.
The projects will be made possible by the R9.5 billion concessional loan received from the World Bank last year.
Pule also said Eskom also entered into training partnerships with Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre to help the power utility reskill communities to find jobs within the renewable energy industry.
According to the Presidential Climate Commission, the projects are expected to create over 600 jobs and about 9 000 temporary jobs.
‘We made a mistake’
Last week, during a media engagement, Eskom’s chairperson Mpho Makwana admitted that Eskom had made a mistake by shutting down Komati before training commenced.
“We have learnt lessons that will guide decommissioning processes at other power stations to ensure we preserve jobs and create new green jobs in the process,” he said.
The admission came after energy minister Gwede Mantashe criticised the government and Eskom for shutting down the powerstation and allowing the town to turn into a ghost town.
He added that the shutdown did not constitute as a just transition as the country claimed the process would be.
In July during a visit to Komati, Eskom’s head of generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said there shouldn’t have been a situation “where there are no megawatts at Komati station”.
“We have learnt now that we need to start early while the plants are still running — at those plants that will enter decommissioning next,” Nxumalo said.
In a media briefing in June, Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane said through the closure, “We have lost quite a substantial number of jobs. There were about 1 700 people there. Today we are talking about 174,”she said.
Eskom plans to decommission the Hendrina, Camden and Grootvlei power stations, which are to be shut down gradually over the next four years.
While Eskom and the government deliberate on extending the utility’s plant life, Pule said her department was focused on training the employees and community members to be ready when the projects take shape.
Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has repeatedly requested that the decommission timeline be reassessed to ensure that the country stabilises its energy grid and resolves the energy crisis.
Mandisa Nyathi is a climate reporting fellow, funded by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa.