NUM preparing legal action against plans to create a fully independent transmission system operator [SOUND]

# The National Union of Mineworkers’ national executive committee has decided to legally challenge Eskom’s restructuring, saying it is willing to take the matter as far as the Constitutional Court. Last month, president Cyril Ramaphosa backed a plan for the establishment of an independent transmission system operator, ending a century-old monopoly by Eskom, and bringing in private producers and traders to create a liberalised electricity market. NUM’s general secretary, Mpho Phakedi, says this is a clear step towards privatisation: