Johannesburg - ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday warned the current events surrounding electricity utility Eskom should not be simplified into a racism issue.

"Everybody must be careful. If there's a crisis, they begin to be personal and begin to go to the lowest level of irrationality," Mantashe told SABC radio news.

"By beginning to accuse (ex-Eskom chairperson Bobby) Godsell of being a racist... we know that is far from the truth. We begin to talk of (Eskom CEO Jacob) Maroga purely on the basis of blackness. We must focus on the crisis and try and address that crisis," said Mantashe.

There had been suggestions by the Black Management Forum and others that Eskom's leadership issue was about racial tension.

But, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has come out in defence of Godsell. "And others have said Bobby Godsell is a racist... we say there is no evidence of that," said NUM secretary-general Frans Baleni, when asked who had branded Godsell a racist.

"He didn't apply to Eskom for the job. Godsell was approached by the ANC government who is the shareholder."

Maroga has returned to his job while Godsell himself resigned on Monday.

Baleni said while racism was of great concern to NUM, he did not support racism being manufactured to suit certain agendas.

"The issue of plain racism, even when there is none, makes it difficult for all of us to confront real racism where it exists."

- Sapa