Irvin Jim, the General secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), says adoption of the Independent Power Producer model, which is being promoted by BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), amounts to “the privatization of Eskom by other means and we reject it in its totality. We cannot allow the grid and the supply of electricity to be placed in private hands. We have learnt many hard lessons in the past about privatization. It ultimately worsens conditions for workers and their families, through increased tariffs and retrenchments.”