Police have a dispersed a group of striking workers who attempted to block a road at the Medupi power station near Lephalale on Tuesday morning, Limpopo police said.

"A group of striking workers attempted to block the road, however they were dispersed by police," Colonel Ronel Otto said.

Further details were not immediately available.

On April 15, striking construction workers at Medupi rejected Eskom's offer to return to work, saying they want their bonus demand to be resolved before they resumed their duties.

The move came after members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), contractors and Eskom agreed to reinstate 1 700 workers who were fired or faced disciplinary action following an unprotected strike on March 25.

The strike focused on a demand that blue collar workers get R10 000 bonuses for the completion of unit 6, but the demand was shelved during a three-day discussion after Eskom promised to investigate the issue.

Numsa regional organiser Mahlodi Modike said at the time that union members rejected the offer to return to work, until such time as their bonuses have been paid.

“We demanded bonuses and Eskom said it was paid, but we wanted to know what happened to the money,” he said.

“They promise to investigate and they asked for our members to return to work.”

BDlive reported last Tuesday that contractors at the site had secured an interdict against strike-related violence and the labour disruption.

News24.com