A South African utility company has been given an ultimatum
to reduce its number of white employees by 44.3% over the next five years. This means 3,389 whites have to go. It is part of the Federal Black Empowerment program.
For years, Eskom has been under orders to only hire non-whites as new employees. The firm says it is having major problems finding enough qualified non-white applicants. Currently, Eskoms middle managers are 30% white and its skilled labor force is 21% white.
The South African government has also ordered Eskom to reduce its safety requirements to make it easier for non-white applicants to qualify for jobs.
Eskom is ordered to reduce the number of white engineers by 1,081, and the number of white skilled laborers by 2,179.
South Africa is currently experiencing a rapid collapse of its electrical infrastructure and power routinely goes out all over the country.