Power plant workers reinstated

The Group Five workers that were fired from the Avon peaking power plant at the end of August after going on an unprotected strike and vandalising the plant, were welcomed back to work this week.

KwaDukuza mayor, Ricardo Mthembu, Sandeep Oudhram and ward councillors, joined the Group Five executive at the plant on Tuesday to officially announce the reinstatement of the workers who were dismissed.

“We at Group Five are always disappointed when we go to labour action. To date, about 70 percent of our employees have been reinstated and hopefully by Monday, November 16, all our workers will be back at work,” said Willie Zeelie, Group Five executive director.

He said the plant was running smoothly and their people were very happy.

He said they had worked hard to reach an amicable solution but condemned the vandalism which cost the development millions.

Mayor Ricardo Mthembu commended Group Five for their commitment in dealing with the matter and said their actions reflected patriotism and national pride.

“This is good news for our council, for the people of KDM and all relevant stakeholders who work with Group Five,” said Mthembu.

He said it was their duty to protect private companies too and that KDM was happy the workers were back at work.

“We will ensure that we honour our commitments that there will be stability in this institution. Nobody must destroy this marriage,” said Mthembu.

The Avon peaking power plant is a private initiative, developed by an Italian company, GDF Suez consortium. The plant will produce power through gas turbines and water and will feed into the national power grid to help curb load shedding.