Eskom expects to have 7 000 less staff in five years from now, a senior manager at the utility said on Thursday.

Marion Hughes, a senior manager at the utility said in a strategy presentation, that the utility, which is struggling to emerge from a financial crisis, intends to reduce headcount from 48 678 to 41 613 by 2023 across all levels through normal attrition.

Eskom said last month it was considering selling non-core assets and job cuts after swinging to a full-year loss.

The utility was also forced to cave in to union demands for higher pay after protesting workers forced some generating units to be switched off, leading to power outages in July and earlier this month.

A company in crisis

Eskom has R270 billion of state-guaranteed debt and is often cited as a threat to South Africa’s credit ratings. Its total debt is around R390 billion.

Earlier this year President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new board at the utility in one of his first interventions since becoming leader of the African National Congress (ANC). He later secured the backing of senior ANC figures for a radical overhaul of Eskom.

Eskom is critical to Africa’s most industrialised economy as it supplies more than 90 of its power and is one of its most indebted state firms.

The utility’s powerful labour unions, some allied with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and others more militant, have said they will resist attempts to cut the workforce and fight moves to privatise the company.

–Reuters