Tsotsi’s fate hangs in the balance

Photo: Dean Hutton

Photo: Dean Hutton

Published Mar 25, 2015

Share

Johannesburg - South Africa’s state-run power utility will hold a board meeting on Wednesday to consider removing its chairman, Zola Tsotsi, as a director of the company, the New Age reported.

A resolution at the meeting will accuse Tsotsi of failing to follow procurement procedures and exposing Eskom to several risks, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

The dispute comes after Tsotsi announced the suspension of four executives, including Chief Executive Officer Tshediso Matona, on March 12 as the company started an audit of the state of the business. Matona, who took up the post in September, is challenging his suspension as unlawful, the New Age said, citing papers filed in a labor court.

The suspensions took place a week after the executives initiated an audit of the utility’s tender procedures, according to Business Day, which didn’t say how it got the information.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said that while he wasn’t aware of a board meeting taking place, executives don’t have to notify the communications department of non-operational matters.

“Our chairman had said the suspensions were not retributive or casting aspersions on any of the involved parties,” Phasiwe said by text message. “He said the aim was to have unfettered access to all issues that have led to Eskom’s current financial and operational problems. Anything beyond that is speculation.”

Eskom’s board put forward a vote of no confidence in Tsotsi, rejected the terms of an inquiry proposed by a consultant he hired and recommended to Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown that Tsotsi be removed from his position, Business Day reported on Tuesday.

Bloomberg

Related Topics: