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'Bonuses must pay Eskom grant'
26/03/2008 21:22 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Eskom must pay for its terminated Aids vaccine grant by taking back the bonuses paid to its management, said the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday.
DA spokesperson Mike Waters said the power utility had terminated its R15m commitment to fund the SA Aids Vaccine Initiative (Saavi).
"This stands in stark contrast to Eskom managers' stubborn refusal to refund the exorbitant bonuses already paid to them and decline generous share options that are due to vest to them at the end of this month," Waters said.
He said it was "brutally clear" that Eskom managers' understanding of the national interest went only as far as their bank accounts.
"Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin needs to step in and demand that instead of terminating the Saavi grant, Eskom managers pay for this R15m grant themselves by refunding their bonuses and declining share options," he said.
Waters said questions also needed to be asked as to why Eskom was involved in funding the initiative from the outset, as its mandate was to supply electricity.
"However, the sudden withdrawal of these funds, once committed, places critical research projects in an important area in jeopardy," he said.
Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said terminating its grant was not a "trade-off".
"It's not as though we stopped (paying) the Aids vaccine to pay bonuses. While Eskom is committed to community development and Aids is seen as a very serious issue, it is nonetheless not part of our core business."
New build programme
Etzinger said funding for the vaccine would not be recoverable from the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) and because of the utility's "financial pressure" it had opted to re-examine its social-responsibility initiatives.
He said Eskom's new build programme would benefit communities through infrastructure development such as schools and hospitals.
New jobs also would be created.
"Foremost of the criteria is to support those directly affected by the build programme," said Etzinger.
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