Eskom board chairman Mpho Makwana resigns

Eskom chairman Mpho Makwana has resigned, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan announced on Monday.  

Mteto Nyati, a former MTN South Africa and Altron CEO who is currently an Eskom board member, will be appointed as the board chair to replace Makwana. 

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An earlier version of a brief statement by the Public Enterprises Department said Nyati would be the interim board chair, which has since been corrected. 

Gordhan said that Makwana would step down at the Eskom annual general meeting, which is scheduled for the end of October. 

He did not disclose the reason behind Makwana’s exit, which comes one year after he was re-appointed to lead Eskom’s board. 

However, in the same statement, Makwana said his sudden departure was handled in a “positive” and “amicable” manner. 

“I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me by the government of the Republic of South Africa to serve a second term as chairperson of the board of directors of Eskom SOC Limited,” said Makwana, who first served as the board chair from 2009 to 2010. “I wish Eskom and its people success and thank its committed stewards for their unstinting efforts to revive the utility.”

Daily Maverick understands that the relationship between Gordhan and Makwana had broken down over the selection process for a new CEO to replace André de Ruyter. Makwana and his board colleagues had come up with nominations for a successor to De Ruyter, who left Eskom seven months ago. But it took four months for Gordhan to reject the Eskom board’s nominations for a successor to De Ruyter, pushing the board to start from scratch.

Gordhan said the work to restructure Eskom and appoint new leadership was ongoing.

“Our efforts to stabilise Eskom and restructure it into three subsidiaries - generation, transmission and distribution - remain on track. As a government, we are committed to ensuring that Eskom has the right skills, talent and experience to support our pursuit of a more secure energy future for South Africans,” he said. DM