Two former Eskom executives who left the power utility under suspicious circumstances during the “state capture years” are back in the running for the hot seat of CEO.
Sunday World can reveal that former Eskom chief executive Tshediso Matona and erstwhile group executive for group capital Dan Marokane were among the first candidates to be interviewed for the vacant job left by disgraced Andre de Ruyter.
The duo, who left Eskom with handsome golden handshakes in 2015, were interviewed on May 12 as the Eskom board kicked off the first process to sift through the short-list.
Marokane and Matona formed a great part of the Zondo Commission’s testimonies on Eskom owing to the circumstances under which they left in 2015.
They were part of the executives, who included then Eskom head of commercial and technology Matshela Koko and director of finance Tsholofelo Molefe, who fell victim to the then Eskom board wars and were suspended without valid reasons before being released with golden handshakes.
Matona, Marokane and Molefe were paid a combined R18m, while Koko chose to remain at Eskom. The short-listing of Matona and Marokane is a departure from the hard-line stance Eskom took against executives who worked for the SOE during the Zuma years.
It appears the current board might be succumbing to growing calls that Eskom ought to swallow its pride and bring back people who know the organisation inside out.
The recruitment of the new CEO is being conducted in secret by the Eskom board and chairperson Mpho Makwana recently told Scopa that this was the international standard practice.
“The process is going well. We have a number of solid candidates that are short-listed, and interviews commence on Friday [May 12]. We do not have a plan to conduct [the interviews] in public,” Makwana told Scopa during an appearance to answer to De Ruyter’s shenanigans.
“We have nothing on our memorandum of incorporation that mandates us to do so. I have no knowledge of anywhere in the world where an important process like this is being run in public.”
Eskom this week said it would not speak publicly about the recruitment of a new boss until the process is complete.
“As a principle, Eskom does not provide details on our recruitment process until we have made an appointment. This is because discretion and confidentiality are essential when hiring executive candidates. We will not be in a position to provide any other details on this process beyond where we are in the process until this is concluded.”
Among others that have been interviewed for the position is current Eskom group executive for customer services Ayanda Noah as well as Power Institute of East and Southern Africa executive officer Vally Padayachee.
It is not clear what process will be followed after the interviews conducted by the board.
During the previous recruitment for the same post where De Ruyter emerged as a victor, a panel of ministers also conducted interviews of the candidates. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan could not say if this will be the modus operandi when quizzed by Scopa.
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