EWN writes that on Monday, officials from the municipality’s energy task team held a media briefing at the Rooiwal power station where they announced the city was looking at leasing the two stations to independent power producers. The Tshwane Municipality said that years of mismanagement, neglect and vandalism had led to two of its power stations running into disuse. The coal power stations of Rooiwal and Pretoria West have been placed under long-term maintenance and care for about a decade.

At their peak, the power stations could generate over 600 megawatts of electricity. On Monday, officials from the municipality’s energy task team held a media briefing at the Rooiwal power station where they announced the city was looking at leasing the two stations to independent power producers. Between the Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations, there are about 200 workers currently employed by the city.

Their daily work routines include the maintenance and upkeep of the plants. Tshwane Municipality’s chief economist, Lardo Standor, said that many of the talented staff had left for better opportunities. “Our preference is that every single one of the staff here is accommodated within the private sector party but obviously we will have to see what the proposals are like and the price pitches are when we do issue those RFPs (request for proposals).” Workers on the sidelines of Monday’s media briefing told Eyewitness News they feared for their jobs and wanted the municipality to redeploy them to other power stations.

by Thabiso Goba
Ref: EWN