Ailing power utility, Eskom wants to pay workers R1.8 billion in performance bonuses, according to a report in the City Press, citing court papers filed by the National Energy Regulator of SA.

Eskom resumed power cuts late on Saturday after a conveyor belt failure at its Medupi plant – just days before Andre de Ruyter officially takes over as chief executive.

De Ruyter is tasked with turning around the debt-laden power utility, which has been described by Goldman Sachs as the biggest threat to South Africa’s economy, Bloomberg reported.

The power utility’s debt has ballooned to R450 billion, while the group is overstaffed, and under skilled to deal with the power crisis at it’s failing power stations.

Despite these problems, Eskom wants to reward its workforce for a job well done with R1.8 billion in performance bonuses between 2019 and 2022.

In August, Rapport noted that Eskom’s senior managers demanded a pay hike.

According to the newspaper, senior managers took Eskom to the Council for for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) because they received no salary increases.

There are approximately 200 managers in this group, who earn between R1.5 million and R3 million a year. They are seeking a 4.7% increase, in line with inflation, the paper reported.

Eskom’s estimated 6,500 middle managers are also reportedly unhappy with the 7.5% increase given to lower-tier workers, and want to be put into the same bargaining unit as those workers.

They earn between R700,000 and R2 million, according to Rapport.

Eskom is about 66% overstaffed, according to analysts and energy experts, which places a massive financial burden on the company which is already struggling to pay the bills.

Eskom’s top executives took a pay cut in 2019 on the back of the group’s dismal financial performance – but still walked away with multi-million rand salaries, and several golden handshakes.

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