Fahmida Choonara | fchoonara@radioislam.co.za
25 April 2023 | 13:45 CAT
2 min read

Photo Credit: Daily Maverick

ESKOM Board Chairperson Mpho Makwana yesterday, addressing the National Demand Side Management Indaba in Johannesburg, announced that five candidates had been short-listed to take up the role of the CEO of the power utility.

The search for a new CEO follows former CEO Andre de Ruyter leaving the company suddenly. Chris Yelland, an energy expert, joined Radio Islam International’s Ml Habib Bobat to discuss the issue.

Yelland says that without knowing who the candidates are and what they would bring to the table, it is impossible to say if they would be suitable for the position.

He added that it was essential to understand the role of the Chief Executive Officer. Further, he clarified that as the world has changed, the new CEO must understand the future of ESKOM rather than focus on restoring the utility to its former glory or fixing it.

“The world has fundamentally changed, we’ve got to look, and the new CEO has got to look into turning ESKOM into a utility of the future. Not a utility of the past.”

He emphasised that the role of the new CEO would be to lead the utility through challenges and lead it to the other side, especially as it was being unbundled into three separate subsidiaries of ESKOM Holdings. He added that ESKOM was also being prepared for an independent grid company – as an independent system operator and market operator.

“So this opens the door to a diversified, competitive generation sector and the establishment of an electricity market in South Africa and a fundamental restructuring of ESKOM generation, transmission, and distribution to make it an efficient operation.”

He stressed that the fundamentals – marketing, sales, and pricing needed to be made efficient else the structure would never be viable.

Speaking on the incumbent’s authority, Yelland said that in the current environment, ESKOM is highly politicised, making it a temptation for politicians to “get their hands into the engine room” of the failing utility, adding that it was dangerous too as politicians had no experience, understanding, or knowledge to make decisions in the business. Due to the current environment, it was almost impossible for the CEO to act independently and be fully responsible to the Board, which was also politicised.

The current structure is complex with three ministers as they are not all on the same page, making the tasks for the new CEO almost impossible to handle.

Listen to the full interview with host Ml Habib Bobat on Sabahul Muslim here