Society and Energy

Civil Society and unions of South Africa met recently to discuss the electricity shortage in the country, and debated various aspects on the implications of the problem. While many called for the South African electricity public utility, Eskom, to be inclusive in discussions to solving the problem, the ousted Secretary General of the Congress of Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi, called for a mass protest campaign against South Africa’s power crisis. The various stakeholders in civil society gathered at the conference under the theme “Will This Be a Winter Without Power?”

To look at what views came out of the conference we are joined by:

• Ted Blom, Partner of Blom Consulting and Training . (He was at the conference looking at: The roots of the Eskom crisis and the need for a judicial enquiry)
• Nombulelo Nyathela, spokesperson from Equal Education. (She delivered a presentation looking at the theme Electricity supply to schools. How outages and inadequate electricity infrastructure affect learning and teaching)

• Lerato Maregele, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg's Programme Officer. (She was speaking on Eskom and Environmental Injustice)