Morning Brief – Friday, 18 November 2022

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know today:

• Public sector workers say strike action will continue until government meets their demands.
• Eskom ramps up load-shedding until further notice.
• Musk’s Twitter ultimatum backfires with more employees opting to leave than expected.

One-day strike just the start for public sector unions – Business Day

Hundreds of public sector workers will engage in a one-day strike set for Tuesday as organised labour takes its next shot at the government in its struggle for higher wages amidst the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Trade unions are describing the strike as an “ultimatum” for government to meet wage demands. The strike will test finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s resolve after he agreed to a public sector wage increase of no more than 3%. After the strike action on Tuesday, there is a planned march to the national treasury two days later. Read more here. (for subscribers)

Eskom increases load-shedding until further notice – My Broadband

On Friday morning, Eskom ramped up load-shedding to stage 4, where it will stay indefinitely, following further breakdowns and a lack of emergency reserves. “Breakdowns amounting to 17,056MW of generation capacity, low pumped storage dam levels, and lack of diesel are the reasons for the increase in load-shedding,” said the struggling power utility. Read more here.

Musk’s ‘Hardcore’ ultimatum sparks exodus, leaving Twitter at risk – Daily Maverick

Earlier in the week, Elon Musk gave his Twitter employees an ultimatum – either they agree to stay on at the company, working at a high intensity and long hours or they would be let go with three months’ severance. The plan seems to have backfired on Musk with more employees opting to leave than was expected, potentially putting Twitter’s operations at risk. Musk had given employees until 5pm on Thursday to decide and was said to have been scrambling late in the day to convince more employees to stay. Read more here.