Mpho Makwana named as Eskom’s new board chairperson
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan made the announcement on Friday afternoon during a virtual briefing.
CAPE TOWN - Mpho Makwana has been named as the new board chairperson of the beleaguered power utility, Eskom.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan made the announcement on Friday afternoon during a virtual briefing.
Makwana is no stranger to Eskom, having previously first served as a director back in 2002.
He later also chaired the Eskom board and stood in as CEO for a few months.
Makwana is currently also the chairperson of the Nedbank group.
Gordan said the newly appointed 13-member board will take up office on Saturday after the previous board’s term expired at the end of 2021.
“The most urgent of which clearly is that the country wants some surety that that load shedding will be minimised, or eliminated, secondly that the collapse of or dysfunctionality in of some power units is something of the past,” Gordhan said.
Only one member of the former board, Rod Crompton, was retained to ensure continuity.
The board comprised at least five engineers and three chartered accountants.
Eskom nuclear expert Clive le Roux and former trade unionist Bheki Ntshalintshali were among the members to serve on the board for the next three years.
DA CRITICISES NTSHALINTSHALI APPOINTMENT
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said the new Eskom board's first order of business must be to put the power plant maintenance programme back on track.
It said they must also secure a short-term supply of electricity and end load shedding.
Ntshalintshali’s appointment to the board, however, came under sharp criticism with the party saying cadre deployment was of no value to the struggling enterprise.
DA Member of Parliament Ghaleb Cachalia said his party expected Eskom to double its efforts to procure power from independent power producers.
“We will look very carefully at what this board does. While we provide it with the necessary support, it will not be unconditional. We need a radical solution to fix the worst crisis this country is facing in the electricity sector and that must happen and it must happen without delay and it must happen without any political interference,” Cachalia added.
