THE HOUSE THAT FORGOT HOW TO LAUGH

 There was no love missing in our house, because there was no love left to miss.That was our secret. We were not sad. Sad would have been easier.In House 24, 2nd Street, Germiston - the Molefes were perfect.6:00 AM - Alarm. 6:15 AM - Mom in the kitchen. The sound of the spoon against the pot. Same pot. Same porridge. Every day for 7 years. 6:30 AM - Dad at the table. Phone brightness on his face. He nods at Mom. Mom nods back. That's their good morning. 6:45 AM - Me and Junior. We eat with the TV on mute. Mom says TV at breakfast rots your brain, so we watch the pictures move with no sound.No one shouts. No one throws plates. Our neighbors who scream at each other at night - they have more life than us.We just... live. We pay. We eat. We sleep. We repeat.Then Mrs. Khumalo gave us the project."Grade 4s, for Life Skills this week: Record 10 moments your family laughed together."I took my pink notebook home like it was gold.DAY 1 - Monday I wrote the date and waited. Dinner....

SOUTH AFRICA 2,000 Eskom employees gone in a year, but 6,000 more must go to reach 'right size'

 

SA's power utility said it has about 6,000 more employees than it needs

15 February 2021 - 18:14
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter: 'We run a large and complex business.'
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter: 'We run a large and complex business.'
Image: REUTERS/SUMAYA HISHAM

Last year alone, 2,000 Eskom employees left the embattled parastatal.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter made the revelation on Monday as he delivered a virtual address on the power utility’s state of affairs.

De Ruyter said the company had been looking at its fixed and staff costs, and realised that it needed to cut back on its employee costs, which essentially meant reducing staff.

None of those who were released from Eskom’s employ were retrenched, however. De Ruyter said some retired while others took voluntary severance packages.

“We followed the instruction of our shareholders not to engage in forced retrenchments. We are on a path to steadily reduce our headcount over time to maintain a staff cost that we believe is commensurate with the requirements of our very large and complex business that we operate,” he said.

De Ruyter said he was aware of the narrative that Eskom was overstaffed, with some saying it employed twice as many people as it needed. That narrative, he said, was that the power giant could operate with a staff complement of 30,000. He stressed that this was not correct.

After a thorough analysis of Eskom’s requirements to run smoothly, De Ruyter said it needed about 38,000 employees.

“We think that is a right-sized number. We are now at about 44,000,” he said.

He did not immediately give a timeline required to reach the desired number of staff.

TimesLIVE


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