Stop saying our MD is corrupt - City Power

Cape Town – Allegations of corruption against City Power MD Sicelo Xulu being made in the media are malicious and are defamatory and should stop, the Johannesburg power utility said.

The request was made on Sunday when it confirmed it had reached an agreement with the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) to avoid a strike that could have caused a blackout in the economic hub of South Africa.

Eskom’s implementation of load shedding has cost the economy dearly. While it has managed to avoid switching off the lights for over two months, a strike by Samwu at City Power could bring a new dynamic to load shedding for Joburg residents.

However, when the strike was first announced, City Power assured ratepayers that it had put contingency measures in place to ensure a reliable supply of electricity.

Now that the strike has been suspended for two weeks, the parties will discuss the complaints against Xulu with chairperson Frank Chikane “to enable assessment of the merits of the complaints and to determine what further action, if any, is required in relation to the complaints”.

City Power has also suspended its court action to gain an interdict against the strike.

City Power said it is concerned that allegations of corruption against Xulu are being made in the public domain without any factual foundation and said such allegations appear malicious and are defamatory in nature.

Suspending the strike last week, Samwu said City Power management had “committed to ensuring that a process of investigating the allegations that Samwu had levelled against management would be investigated”.