Cape Town - Eskom has mined a database of 1 800 names of skilled people who have come forward to offer their labour services, and it is keen to scrutinise almost a third of the individuals, most of whom are white.
The power utility, which is rolling out a massive infrastructure programme in a climate of skills shortages, would ask 561 of the individuals to submit CVs and would invite selected candidates to a career day, Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said this week.
The database is a project of the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), which believes that white skills are underused because of affirmative action. It was initiated after the government announced plans to seek skilled workers abroad.
By 2014, Eskom plans to add 7 050 employees to its current workforce of about 32 000 people, which means it must fill nearly 1 200 new vacancies (mostly for artisans, technicians, engineers, technologists and project managers, followed by accountants) each year on average. That figure excludes vacancies arising due to retirement and resignations.
Etzinger said affirmative action remained a priority for Eskom and preference would be given to black and women
candidates. Asked whether Eskom would allow its employment equity statistics to drop back, he said: We'd have to manage a fine balance between driving affirmative action targets while ensuring we have sufficient skills. We have to carefully manage the situation on both sides.
Eskom's priority was to recover from the electricity emergency, Etzinger said. The FF Plus said yesterday that about 85 percent of the individuals on its database were white. Business Report interviewed some of those who submitted their names. Most were not FF Plus supporters and many saw the need for some form of affirmative action, even though they believed they had been disadvantaged by it.
Industrial engineer Edward Alant, who has searched unsuccessfully for a job for three years, said: Affirmative action is necessary and should be applied wherever practically possible. But if it's not practically possible, don't do it for window dressing, because it will ruin the technical future of South Africa.
Alant could not believe his 20 years of business and management experience were of no use to companies. I say that not from a position of arrogance, but a position of experience. I have a good 20 years left in me, he said.
Schalk Gous, who is qualified in project management, said there was a need for inequality to be corrected. But I firmly believe not working at the moment. There's a brain drain.
Mechanical engineer Chris Jansen van Rensburg, said: Although I'm white and without work, I still support what's going on in South Africa. But we need the experience and knowledge that's being lost to overseas countries so that South Africa can flourish.
Jansen van Rensburg believed there was definitely a place for us that are older and more experienced to mentor
the younger guys. I don't mind what colour they are.
Last month minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in parliament that there were people with scarce skills who were reluctant to mentor others, as they wanted to maintain a monopoly over knowledge.
Business Report spoke to seven of the people whose names are on the database compiled by the Freedom Front Plus. These are their stories.
Johan Müller (46), a mechanical engineer, took a retrenchment package from the Eastern Cape provincial government amid uncertainty about the future of his position. After falling on hard times, he has now turned to load testing of lifting equipment on a contractual basis, but would like fulltime employment under the
right conditions.
Heini Backeberg (55), a mechanical engineer with a doctorate in transport economics, was retrenched by the
Gauteng provincial government and later by a private sector company. He now works on a contract basis and believes he could manage projects for Eskom on a very high level.
Jan van de Venter (59), who has a computer science degree and a Master's degree in mathematics, was retrenched
five years ago from AST, which took over the information systems division of former steel parastatal Iscor. He has been unable to find work since then and is living off the interest from his pension.
Edward Alant (43), an industrial engineer with business experience in technical areas, worked in the manufacturing industry but quit due to poor pay. He believes affirmative action has frustrated a concerted
effort on his part to find a job in the past three years.
Chris Jansen van Rensburg (59), who is qualified for mechanical and electrical work in factories, resigned as general manager of Nissan South Africa's plant engineering department in 1996 due to a clash with a senior staff member. He then struggled to find work and started a small electrical contractor business.
Schalk Gous (36), whose qualifications include a degree in computer science and mathematics, a Master's in business administration and a diploma in project management, was retrenched by a fast-moving consumer
goods firm. It took him three years to find another job.
Michael Fox (44), a quantity surveyor, previously worked for several private-sector companies but believes that since the 1990s affirmative action has prevented him from gaining employment. He is self-employed on a part-time basis.