Eskom and its suspended chief executive Tshediso Matona had mutually agreed to part ways on an amicable basis, the power utility said last night.
Matona and three other executives were suspended in March while an inquiry was being planned into the operations of the troubled Eskom, its then chairman Zola Tsotsi, said at the time. He stressed that there was “nothing sinister” about the suspensions.
Tsotsi was subsequently fired after the Eskom board passed a vote of no confidence in him.
Matona had served less than six months as chief executive after being director-general at the Department of Public Enterprises.
Best interests
Eskom said in its statement that Matona believed his departure was in the best interest of the utility, to allow the board to pursue its plans under the current leadership.
“With the separation, the inquiry initiated by the board into the state of affairs at Eskom will continue as planned, and Mr Matona’s suspension falls away. The separation is also by no means an anticipation of the outcomes of the inquiry, the latter whose objective is to enable the organisation to deal with its challenges.”
It is not clear whether Matona’s departure means he has withdrawn his dispute with Eskom over the unfair suspension he launched with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration on March 23. Subsequent to that, Matona’s separate approach to the Labour Court was struck from the roll, in deference to conciliation.
Eskom said, having considered Matona’s contribution at Eskom and his vast professional and leadership experience, it was of the view he could still play a role for South Africa within the private or public sectors.
Contribution
It thanked him for his contribution during his term at Eskom.
Matona’s departure opens the way for Eskom’s acting chief executive Brian Molefe to be appointed permanently.
Eskom did not say if Matona would receive a golden handshake, a practice that seems in vogue recently in government departments and public institutions.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said yesterday that the government was committed to selling stakes in Eskom as long as it maintained control of the power utility.
However, he skirted the issue of full privatisation, although there are growing expectations that the government will soon opt for this as the economy continues to bleed through power shortages.
Stake
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Nene was asked if he would consider asking the Public Investment Corporation to take a stake in Eskom.
He said: “The private sector investment is currently in the renewable side, and what needs to be worked out on the utility itself is making sure that the government maintains a majority shareholding.”
Nene continued: “At the moment, we’re looking at the simple ones like core generation. We have instances of IPPs (independent power producers) and I would like to believe that once those have been concluded, looking at equity injection is also on the cards.”
However, Phumza Macanda, a spokeswoman for the Treasury, denied that Nene had said anything about privatisation of Eskom in the interview nor in his speech to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association.
She said among the options being explored were increasing private sector generation capacity and the possibility of private investment in Eskom.