Johannesburg - The act, by disgruntled employees, of turning off power at sub-stations around Johannesburg, will not be tolerated, says City Power board chairperson, Rev Frank Chikane.
"While we respect our employees’ right to withhold their labour following the lawful processes, interfering or sabotaging the network is a criminal act that will not be tolerated,” said Chikane while briefing reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.
Power was restored to all areas in Johannesburg on Saturday following outages when workers downed tools last Wednesday in protest of a new shift structure that management wants to implement.
Chikane said the board fully supported City Power’s efficiency improvement strategy and its strategic intent.
He said the shift model implementation was necessary to address employee safety and to comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, including ensuring efficient service delivery.
“We will ensure that the Managing Director and his management team receive the necessary support,” Chikane said.
His sentiments were echoed by the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for Environment and Infrastructure Service Department, Matshidiso Mfikoe.
“Just because certain individuals went to the power sub-station and turned off power, it does not mean we are intimidated. In fact, we are going to implement the shift model.
“We condemn the criminal actions taken by certain employees who are resisting the shift policy. We need to praise courageous initiatives from public institutions and encourage a high-performance culture in the public sector.
“It is unacceptable for senior executives to be persecuted for driving a high-performance agenda. Those found guilty of these criminal activities will face the full might of the South African law.
“We are behind the implementation of efficiencies within City Power to meet our service delivery objectives, and we will support any initiatives that will uproot corruption and inefficiency,” Mfikoe said, adding that City Power was also a National Key Point.
City Power’s Managing Director Sicelo Xulu said the new shifts were aimed at improving service delivery to residents of Johannesburg.
While he confirmed that the situation was back to normal, Xulu said that they have since received a resignation letter from one employee, who was also part of the strike.
Structural Realignment
Xulu said the company structure was realigned to be more efficient and to build in the necessary controls and accountability.
He said a new risk, assurance and compliance group was established to focus on the proper management of those areas. A retail group was also established to focus attention on the retail environment.
He said a review of all categories of allowances was undertaken for cost effectiveness and to ensure that staff had the necessary tools of trade to enhance their performance.
“This guarantees certainty and fairness in the allowances provided. The company also terminated a retention tool called the hot skill allowance due to the low turnover in the company.”
Xulu said together with his management team, they have clamped down on non-performance, unnecessary expenditure and the abuse of the utility’s reward policy.
He said City Power’s vision of creating a high-performance organisation was geared towards creating operational efficiencies and a culture change towards zero tolerance for poor performance and complacency.
Last year, the board emphasised that efficient service delivery can only be achieved by creating a high-performance culture and a sense of accountability.
As a result, performance improvement strategies were developed and approved by the board for implementation. Some of the strategies focus on improved service delivery, human resources, tariff revenue management and financial resilience. - SAnews.gov.za
