- Eskom has announced that the new Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, officially took office today.
- He re-joins Eskom at a time when the organisation faces an existential challenge and is undergoing significant changes that require hands-on, bold, and decisive leadership.
- The new comes at a time when former interim CEO of Eskom, Matshela Koko, has taken the country’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to court to revoke the non-prosecution agreement it made with ABB and implicates Marokane in wrong doing in the corruption saga. Read more
ABB, who have been found by the US Attorney General to have bribed a senior Eskom official and made to pay US$315 million in restitution, made a deal with the NPA avoid direct prosecution in South Africa. In court documents Koko alleges that in the deal, he was negotiated as the fall guy who provided confidential Eskom information to ABB between 2014 and 2017. Koko alleges that the actual person who provided information to ABB is incoming Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, who was Eskom’s head of capital at the time.
Despit this, Eskom Board Chairman Mteto Nyati expressed confidence in Marokane’ s abilities, as well as in the leadership and staff of Eskom, emphasising their collective commitment to turning the organisation around.
“We expect Dan and his leadership team to accomplish at least two critical tasks. First, they must address the current business challenges. Loadshedding must become a thing of the past. Second, they need to reposition and restructure Eskom to enable growth and sustainability,” said Nyati.
As Marokane takes the helm, the Eskom Board has asked him to prioritise several key areas in the first 100 days and these are:
- Assessing the Generation Operational Recovery Plan
- Reviewing Eskom’s unbundling plans
- Engaging with internal and external stakeholders
These first 100 days are crucial for helping him gain necessary insights about Eskom and the industry. He should be in a position to engage with the media at the end of this critical period.
“Dan has the full support of the Eskom Board. Eskom employees are excited to welcome him back into the organisation. We invite all South Africans to rally behind him as he steers Eskom toward stability, reliability and sustainability,” concluded Nyati.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
