Medupi Impasse

The red abnormal load lorryto deliver its 38000kg, two-storey-high cargo of ducting component to Eskom’s Medupi power station. At 3pm the driver unhooked his trailer and drove away with the two escort vans in tow.

Having covered 350km over seven days to get to Medupi, the Redruth Transport driver had been instructed to wait because access to the power plant was closed and work on the site had stopped.

To the west of Lephalale, a rural Limpopo town formerly known as Ellisras, work on the 4800MW, R120bn power plant came to a standstill on January 16 after a dispute about year-end bonuses that workers allege were not paid in full. The workers accuse management of the construction companies at Medupi of not addressing their grievances. Management has responded by shutting down the construction site and locking the workers out.

This new stoppage lengthens the already long delay in turning on the power station.

The first unit of the power station was meant to be commissioned in May 2012. The new deadline is now year-end, but that looks increasingly unlikely. “The labour unrest poses a material threat to a tight schedule to deliver first power to the grid by end-2013,” says Eskom spokesman Hillary Joffe Eskom is not directly involved in the talks.

Labour representatives and construction companies confirm that talks to resolve the matter are continuing.

The National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa), which represents about 9000 of the total 17000 workers across all the contractors at the site, wants an unconditional return to work from its members. The employers insist on a disciplinary process as a condition of a return to work.

“How can they discipline our members when the employers have acknowledged there was a mistake with the payment of bonuses and deduction of taxes?” asks Stephen Nhlapo, Numsa sector co-ordinator. “They provoked the workers.”

The trade union says workers will return to work while the bonuses and other issues are being resolved. “But we will not agree to the disciplinary process. Who is going to discipline the employer for provoking workers through the nonpayment of bonuses?” asks Nhlapo.

He insists, as do many of the workers the FM spoke to, that they are not on strike. “The employer refused to talk to shop stewards when approached about the incorrect bonuses and the workers then downed tools, waiting to be addressed. What were they supposed to do?”

Workers across all the construction companies — including Kentz SA, the second-biggest contractor on site — say they raised the matter of excessive deductions and incorrect bonuses in December after receiving their wages. They were paid on the last day of work before the year-end holidays. One employee showed the FM three salary notices, all dated December 13, showing different amounts paid. He is employed by Murray & Roberts, which is the largest employer at the site, with 5900 workers.

On one pay slip, a grinder operator’s earnings of R18891, which included a bonus and leave pay, were reduced to net pay of just over R5000. The operator, whose name is known to the FM, received the pay slip two days before the cash was paid on December 14. After complaining, he was given a new pay slip reflecting net pay of R9000, which still didn’t satisfy him. Finally he received R12300.

“The pay office was flooded with people with similar complaints,” says the grinder operator, while sipping beer from a bottle in his yard at Marapong township on a Friday morning. Each time the workers queried their pay, the deductions kept changing and the net pay rose, giving rise to suspicion that someone was stealing from them. “They take workers for granted and undermine us. And they paid us one shift short. We want all our money,” says the operator.

The union acknowledges Medupi is of national importance because of the shortage of electrical power, and that it is running behind schedule. “It’s a disappointing statement to say we’re holding the country to ransom,” says shop steward Luyanda Mqondeni “We’re not on strike, we were locked out by the employer.” As a full-time Numsa shop steward, Mqondeni works at the union’s offices overseeing the work of shop stewards who work on the construction site.

Mqondeni was called by the shop stewards to Medupi after Murray & Roberts managers refused to talk to them about the pay discrepancies. Upon arriving, he says he was chased away by management, telling him they didn’t want to see him at the construction site as he did not work there.

“They refused to talk to shop stewards while workers were busy at their jobs. Then they chased me — the registered representative of the workers — away,” says Mqondeni. The workers then sat down and demanded management address them all.

The companies say they are trying to resolve these issues and reopen the site as soon as possible. Murray & Roberts is working on the civil engineering for the earthworks and the chimneys, as well as on the mechanical engineering contracts for the six R33bn boiler structures.

“We have agreed with Eskom that we will obtain the services of industry experts to rule on this issue [of bonuses] and to be sure that the systems we use are correct,” says Murray & Roberts spokesman Eduard Jardim. This will be done in collaboration with Eskom’s auditors, who will share the findings with all parties concerned. “There is no guidance yet as to the timeframe of the findings of this investigation,” he says.

What about resuming work on the construction site? Numsa says its members are ready to return to work as it has been agreed that their main grievances will be investigated. But there must be no threat of disciplinary action. “They say we must agree to written warnings. What for? That’s a ploy to dismiss workers who were provoked by [management],” says Nhlapo.

Murray & Roberts says only that it is negotiating for a return to work to get the project back on track. “Every day counts for the contractors on site and for our client, Eskom, as the deadlines are tight and the project important for the country,” says Jardim. He won’t say whether the contractors stand to be penalised for not delivering the project on schedule, citing confidentiality clauses with Eskom.

While none of the dozens of cranes moved in the background, two lone guards sat watching the locked gates at the construction site when the FM visited last week. They have been coming to work to watch a locked gate for three weeks. Eskom says it has been urging the contractors to resolve their dispute with their employees so they can deliver on their obligations to the nation.

The red lorry with its heavy abnormal load seems destined to spend a few more sunny days on the side of Nelson Mandela Drive, waiting for the gates to open. Meanwhile, the shutdown is having a direct impact on business in Lephalale, and potentially the country should the power station not be completed in time and SA has to face further power cuts.