Police confirmed that they found the bodies of 20 men on Monday and Tuesday at two separate locations near an old mine in Orkney.
Workers affiliated with NUM and Numsa want 15% wage increase while Eskom says it can't afford the hike and has offered a 1.5% increase.
Numsa general secretary, Irvin Jim, said that they had been provoked by Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter and executive management, who refused to engage meaningfully in the wage negotiations at Eskom.
The number of positive coronavirus cases confirmed within the sector so far suggests the spread is not easing, with 1,559 active cases at the last count, while 1,166 workers have recovered.
Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced that it's important for some operations to continue as vital maintenance is needed.
Implats said that it would continue operating its number 12 and 14 shafts for the foreseeable future, securing 10,000 jobs, and would then continue to mine 1 shaft for its remaining life of three years, securing 2,500 jobs.
The NUM has rejected Andre de Ruyter’s appointment as Eskom CEO, describing it as a setback for transformation.
The NUM fears the plan to split Eskom into separate units for generation, transmission and distribution will lead to Eskom being privatised.
Fifteen-thousand workers affiliated to union Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union have been on strike for almost five months.
Government has given Eskom a R69 billion bailout while it struggles to pay off its debt of over R420 billion.
This comes despite a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday which was also attended by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Energy Minister Jeff Radebe.
The labour union has rejected government’s plan to split the power utility into three entities comprising of generation, transmission and distribution.
NUM says that it will shut down the electricity grid in the days leading up to the elections to protest government’s decision to unbundle Eskom into three entities.
Differences between the ANC-led government and organised labour on how the power utility can be rescued have come to a head, with the NUM being the latest union to threaten a shut down of the country over the decision to unbundle Eskom into three entities.
The NUM said it found out that the state-owned power utility will be split into three entities during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of The Nation Address (Sona) last week and has lashed out at the ANC for not consulting them in the decision-making process.
A task team set up to help stabilise the cash-strapped power utility is reportedly proposing splitting the company up into three state-owned entities responsible for power generation, distribution and transmission.
Both unions handed over a memorandum at Megawatt Park on Wednesday amid fears that their members could be the latest to lose their jobs at the public entity.
Rival union's Numsa and NUM are calling for the scrapping of the IPP project if they want to keep their jobs.
