Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest labor union at Eskom Holdings Ltd. backed the departing chairman against allegations of racism and called for the chief executive officer to step down, deepening a fight between the ruling African National Congress and its allies over state-owned companies.

The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents almost half of Eskom’s workers, rebutted accusations by the Black Management Forum and the youth league of the ANC that Bobby Godsell tried to oust Jacob Maroga as CEO because he is a racist. Godsell resigned as Eskom chairman yesterday citing a lack of government support,

“This situation looks very much like the industrial working class versus crony capitalist wannabes,” Nic Borain, a Cape Town-based political analyst whose clients include HSBC Holdings Plc, said on his blog today. “The Black Management Forum and the ANC Youth League are political formations whose only interest is in leveraging preferential access to the state for the purpose of the advancement of its members.”

In a statement released yesterday, Godsell, a former CEO of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., said that Maroga had offered to resign two weeks ago and then retracted that offer when it was accepted by Eskom’s board. The government had failed to support the board when it sought Maroga’s departure or arbitration, he said.

The Black Management Forum yesterday welcomed Godsell’s departure. In a Nov. 6 statement it said Godsell’s treatment of Maroga indicated “the covert anti-transformation and racist agenda inherent in our country.”

South Africa’s government is pressuring companies to boost black ownership of their businesses and to promote black executives to help make up for discrimination during the apartheid era.

‘They Must Walk’

“The fact that he was appointed by ANC shows that he isn’t a racist,” Frans Baleni, the general-secretary of the NUM, said of Godsell at a press conference in Johannesburg today. ”There’s no evidence that Godsell is a racist.”

Earlier Zwelinzima Vavi, the general-secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said Godsell’s departure would be a “loss to Eskom.” The NUM is an affiliate of Cosatu. Irvin Jim, the head of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, said the union, which has members at Eskom, has today requested a meeting with Barbara Hogan, South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises.

“Eskom is very important to all of us,” Baleni said. “If it means that both of them should leave for Eskom to move forward then they must walk,” he said, adding that the union wants the government to intervene.

The ANC governs in an alliance with Cosatu and the South African Communist Party.

“Out of Place”

Maroga will comment “when the time comes,” he said when called on his mobile phone today.

“To make an allegation like Bobby is a racist is out of place,” Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the ANC and former NUM leader, said in an interview, adding that group such as the youth league and forum had the “freedom” to voice their opinions.

Eskom is in the midst of a 385 billion-rand ($52 billion) expansion to rectify a shortage of generation capacity that in January 2008 led to the closure of most of South Africa’s mines and smelters for five days

The expenditure is part of an infrastructure-investment program that the government is relying on to pull the country out of its first recession in 17 years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ron Derby in Johannesburg at rderby1@bloomberg.netCarli Lourens in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 06:23 EST