Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown is working on replacing the board of embattled power utility Eskom.
In an exclusive interview with Business Report on Wednesday, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said that Brown had indicated to him that “she is working on appointing a full board for Eskom not just a replacement of the individuals but a full board of Eskom”.
The replacement of the full Eskom board could potentially add to the power utility’s instability, creating a leadership vacuum. Nene did not provide further details.
A brand new board could endanger Eskom’s credit rating too. The suspension of four top Eskom officials was the final straw that led ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to slash Eskom’s long-term credit rating to BB+, below the key investment grade level, last month.
Eskom’s board looks like it is following in the footsteps of SAA. In October, SAA chief executive Monwabisi Kalawe was suspended amid allegations of misconduct.
In June last year, Brown, who became public enterprises minister in May, warned that heads were going to roll at the national carrier.
By October, a number of SAA board members had resigned and Brown had put in a new board.
Brown said that her intervention was aimed at stabilising SAA.
Nene commented about Eskom on the sidelines of the SA Revenue Service revenue-collection announcement in Pretoria yesterday.
“We are ensuring Eskom is fully functional, we are ensuring energy in the country does not restrain our economy and we are working with all relevant structures to do that.
“It is for that reason that we have taken the initiative to ensure Eskom is going to collect all its money from municipalities… making sure that Eskom is going to move towards a cost-effective tariff, that’s the package we have taken,” he said.
The Treasury was working with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s team on restoring the Eskom board and the power utility’s financial sustainability, he said.
Nene side-stepped a question about whether the departure of Eskom board chairman Zola Tsotsi would have an impact on the utility.
“We as individuals get appointed today and we leave tomorrow, so when you leave an institution there must not be an impact on the establishments of the institutions. That is what we are doing with Eskom.”
Nene added that there were time frames to each action Eskom was taking and that all time frames revolved around the five-point plan the government had put to each and everyone of the interventions.
Asset sale
On another note, Nene said the government had identified the assets that would be sold to raise the R23 billion for Eskom’s short-term needs and this money would be disbursed from June.
However, he declined to give further details.
Meanwhile, Eskom is set to announce a new external consulting firm to drive its probe after the board decided to terminate Tsotsi’s preferred company Nick Linell.
Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe yesterday confirmed that a decision had been taken to terminate Nick Linell’s appointment to provide services as proper procurement processes had not been followed.
Phasiwe said the board would make known the new company’s name and its terms of reference once it had completed its discussions on the direction the inquiry should take.
“The new company has fulfilled all our internal processes so once the board meets with them, and explains the new mandate, then the name and the terms of reference will be made public,” said Phasiwe.