Johannesburg – The Democratic Alliance (DA) has on Wednesday, lashed out at the decision to appoint Matshela Koko as acting group chief executive of Eskom, saying that this was doing more of the same and recycling an “improperly appointed” board.
This comes after the Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown approved a recommendation by the board of Eskom to appoint Koko as acting group chief executive of the power utility with effect from December 1.
Koko is the current head of generation at Eskom and holds executive responsibility for coal procurement.
His appointment follows the resignation of Brian Molefe earlier this month as group chief executive following his implication in the former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s “State of Capture” report.
Koko was also implicated in the “State of Capture” report as he signed a document approving a prepayment of R600,000 to Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources, but he was not subpoenaed to give evidence to the public protector.
DA’s shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone, said that the Public Protector’s “State of Capture” report stated clearly that the Eskom board was “improperly appointed”.
“It is therefore cause for concern that the board is simply recycling current members and introducing no “new blood” into the structure,” Mazzone said in a statement.
“It is hardly surprising that Mr Koko becomes the successor to Mr Molefe as both have been outspoken regarding the nuclear project and both are fully supportive of Eskom taking charge of the nuclear build program.”
Mazzone said Brown should be introducing fresh, untainted and independent leadership to the highly controversial entity, but was simply reinforcing concerns of personal interests within the board.
“The only chance Eskom has of proving its political independence to the South African people and proving that it is not a captured entity is a complete change in leadership by a politically neutral, independent board made up of specialists in the field and not deployed cadres,” Mazzone said.
African News Agency