DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NA
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 246
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28 February 2014
246. Ms B D Ferguson (Cope) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
Whether he is aware that skills shortages, especially experienced A-class
welders, delays the completion of the construction of the Medupi and Kusile
coal-fired power stations; if not, what is the position in this regard; if
so, what are the relevant details? NW297E
Reply:
According to Eskom:
The completion of Medupi and Kusile has experienced delays and there are
various factors that have contributed to this including the shortage of A-
Class welders. Eskom has communicated extensively the specific reasons for
the delays at Medupi, and these are largely technical quality issues. The
issues that have resulted in delays at Medupi included geotechnical,
labour, design and construction issues. Various interventions have since
been implemented and significant progress has been achieved.
Eskom is implementing a three-fold strategy to address the shortage of A-
Class welder skills. The strategy refers to expatriating qualified local
welder recruitment and aimed at skills transfer to local workers. The
strategy further deals with the training of welders by contractors and the
Eskom Welding School. To date 427 qualified welders have been recruited for
the build programme, with further recruitment of qualified welders in
progress. In addition, the training intervention consists of 396 trainees
in the system, as well as 209 A-class welders that have completed training.
Those who have completed training bring the total number of qualified A-
class welders in the build programme to 636.