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Cape Town – Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown will complete the appointment of a new permanent board at Eskom by the end of September.
Brown’s spokesperson Colin Cruywagen told Fin24 on Saturday that this will first be approved by Cabinet.
“The process to rotate the board is already underway with the appointment of an interim board in June, and will be completed with the appointment of a permanent board with necessary Cabinet approval in this quarter,” he said.
He was responding to a statement issued by labour federation Cosatu on Friday, in which it raised concerns about the composition of the Eskom board.
"The minister has noted Cosatu's concerns over the composition of the Eskom board,” said Cruywagen.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla accused Brown of “aiding and abetting the mess at Eskom by protecting the utility’s ineffectual and compromised board”.
Pamla said in the statement that the federation was worried about media reports suggesting that Eskom acting chairperson Zethembe Khoza is sabotaging the process of disciplinary hearings against the senior executives implicated in wasteful expenditure and questionable transactions.
“Brown needs to be held fully responsible for the mess at Eskom because she has been the staunch defender of the ineffectual board of Eskom. Their failures and nefarious activities should be parked at her door step.
“The fact that a board chairperson is interfering on operational matters by allegedly instructing that suspensions of officials be lifted without any valid reasons is outrageous.
“The weak political oversight of both the ANC and its government over parastatals since 2009 has allowed the gains of Polokwane and Mangaung to be reversed.
“This government inaction has also derailed the objective of building a ‘capable developmental state’. The ongoing looting is not an accident but a well calculated strategy by some within and outside of the state.
“The tender and procurement contracts struck between the state and businesses (both black and white) involve corruption and fraud, and many senior public servants have been exposed as advancing their own narrow personal or some nepotistic interests in terms of such contracts.
“By protecting such people Minister Lynne Brown is a participant because he is aiding and abetting the ongoing looting. We reiterate our position for the Eskom board to be disbanded and be investigated.”
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