'Govt to wreck power supply'

Johannesburg - Privatisation did not have a role to play in the electricity generating sector, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Friday.

"Cosatu remains convinced that moves towards privatisation will ultimately wreck a crucial public national service and we shall continue to campaign vigorously to prevent the sell-off of a vital public asset," said spokesperson Patrick Craven in reaction to President Jacob Zuma's state of the nation address.

Zuma on Thursday evening confirmed his administration would set up an independent system operator "separate from Eskom" to look into the participation of independent power producers.

The plan would seek to protect the poor from rising electricity prices.

Cosatu was one of the key players fighting Eskom's exorbitant tariff price hike application, bemoaning the effect it would have on the poor.

The parastatal, amidst much internal strife over the resignation of its chief executive Jacob Maroga, applied for a 35 percent tariff hike for each of the next three years to fund much needed expansion to meet the country's growing power needs.

The federation was worried that Zuma's address lacked recognition of the country's unemployment crisis, exacerbated by the loss of almost a million jobs last year as the country braved the global economic downturn and a recession.

"The federation was disappointed that there was no appreciation of the full extent of the massive crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequality," said Craven in a statement.

Cosatu has long been pushing for an overhaul of the economy.

"Government policy must be based on the understanding that our economy was in crisis even before the recession hit us, as a result of the legacy from colonialism and apartheid of over-dependence on the export of raw materials and capital intensive sectors.

"That is why [it] is essential that we urgently adopt a completely new growth path to transform our economy into one based on labour-intensive manufacturing industry and one that meets the basic needs of our people."

Zuma, in his address, touched on government's long-awaited facelifted industrial policy action plan - which would be fleshed out on its introduction to Parliament by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies.

Cosatu was "particularly concerned" about Zuma's silence on the creation of "decent work", the spread of casual labour and labour broking.

It was worried that while Zuma committed to stepping up the fight against corruption, the focus remained on corruption at "lower levels".

"Cosatu repeats its insistence that all public representatives must be forced to choose whether they want to be servants of the public or in business to make profits.

"They cannot be both at the same time.

"The succession of corruption scandals and the spread of the capitalist culture of greed and self-enrichment are threatening to unravel the fabric of society."

He reiterated a call by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi for a "lifestyle audit" of all Cabinet ministers, director generals and deputy director generals to determine why they can afford to have "more than one mansion", holiday homes and to take expensive holidays.

- Sapa