The head of Eskom’s energy transition department has resigned, leaving the utility in the middle of scrutinising the terms of a R150bn-plus package pledged by some of the world’s richest nations to finance a quicker transition from coal.
A more than 20-year energy industry veteran, the departure of Mandy Rambharos at the end of October is likely to leave SA’s delegation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change one person short at the 27th annual meeting (COP27) in the first week of November.
At the previous meeting in Glasgow last year, the EU, Britain, France, the US and Germany promised $8.5bn (R153bn) to help Eskom expedite the transition to green energy. In exchange, SA has to come up with a plan for how it will shut down coal-fired power stations and repurpose those locations for renewable energy farms.
Negotiations with the partners about the investment plan are meant to end before the start of COP27, a timing that would allow SA and partners to share the details of the plan, which they hope will serve as a model for other emerging economies
to follow to wean themselves off coal.
Eskom is unfazed by the exit of Rambharos — who is joining the Environmental Defense Fund, a US non-profit — with spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha saying that the energy transition programme will proceed as planned.
New board
The announcement of Rambharos’s departure came a day after public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan named a new Eskom board that combines a mix of legal, engineering and financial skills.
The board of directors, which began work at the weekend, is led by Mpho Makwana, a bachelor of arts graduate who returns to the utility after serving in the same capacity in 2010. He is currently the chair of Nedbank and also holds a number of other corporate positions. He served for nine months as Eskom CEO.
The new board includes Busisiwe Vilakazi (an engineer); Lwazi Goqwana (a member of the ministerial task team looking into improvements at Eskom); Clive le Roux (a retiree with experience at Koeberg as Eskom’s chief nuclear officer); Leslie Mkhabela (an attorney with experience in the restructuring of state-owned assets); Mteto Nyati (a chemical engineer and former Altron CEO); Fathima Gany (a chartered accountant); Ayanda Mafuleka (a chartered accountant); Tsakani Mthombeni (an engineer who has been involved in improving Eskom’s performance and a former chair of the Energy Intensive Users Group); Claudelle von Eck (a change management expert); Tryphosa Ramano (a chartered accountant); and trade unionist Bheki Ntshalintshali. Existing board member Rod Crompton will be retained to ensure continuity.
The new board members have taken oversight of a state-owned company that faces an energy supply crisis, which has damped business sentiment, undermined economic growth prospects and left millions of South Africans frustrated. They will also have to assess the performance of Eskom’s executive management team led by CEO André de Ruyter, who took the reins at the start of 2020.
First task
Makwana said the board would meet the executives on Monday as SA continues to grapple with severe load-shedding, which has continued for weeks.
Makwana said the new board would within days be able to speak more openly about the way forward amid calls from the EFF and the Black Business Council (BBC) for De Ruyter and COO Jan Oberholzer to be shown the door.
“The BBC would like to advise the new board that their first responsibility and task is to release the incompetent CEO and COO as they have plunged the country into darkness that has paralysed the country and its economy,” said BBC CEO Kganki Matabane as the lobby group joined a chorus of commentators welcoming the new board.
Business Unity SA (Busa) said it believed the right people had been appointed to chart the way forward.
“The board has an appropriate mix of expertise and we expect the new board to provide strategic guidance to the Eskom executive and to take responsibility for the executive’s performance,” Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said. “We also expect the new board to engage robustly with the shareholder to get the shareholder to play its role in ameliorating and managing the ongoing load-shedding crisis.”
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