Eskom board chair Mteto Nyati says the Transnet board has reached out, seeking to learn how the power utility turned around its operational performance.
The power utility has been enjoying a purple patch, keeping the lights on for more than four months without load-shedding through a marked improvement in its energy availability factor (EAF).
“The chair of Transnet, Andile Sangqu, has reached out to us asking for a sit-down [to] share what we have done to turn things around. The chair of the State IT Agency (Sita) has also reached out, because a lot of departments don’t want to work with the entity any more,” Nyati said in a lecture delivered on Friday at the Durban University of Technology.
Referring to Sita’s role as a co-ordinator of the state’s IT resources, Nyati said: “It will be a disaster if they [government departments] procure directly, but Sita is in a mess. They have reached out saying: can we come and share on how to turn things around?”
He said the department of health had also reached out. “All public hospitals are trying to turn around their performance. What I am going to emphasise is that it will take courage to appoint the right people in key roles, and not people who are just connected.”
The Transnet board was appointed just more than a year ago after sweeping C-suite changes that saw Portia Derby and Nonkululeko Dlamini step down as CEO and CFO, respectively. The board of the freight and rail group has since promoted former Transnet Pipelines CEO Michelle Phillips to the role of group CEO.
Siza Mzimela, head of the biggest unit, Transnet Freight Rail, also left the company. The entity has since reported marginal improvements in operational performance as it implements its recovery plan.
Nyati said the role played by former public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan in the now apparent turnaround of Eskom had been mischaracterised.
“It was Gordhan who assembled this team [the Eskom board]. Many people, if you follow social media and the media, say many negative things about that man. Unfortunately, many people have not worked with him and have no clue what he is about,” Nyati said. “This is a person who truly supported us in the turnaround of Eskom.”
One of the ways Nyati said Gordhan supported the board was to help it push back against a government directive that Eskom employees should not be paid bonuses until load-shedding was resolved.
Gordhan retired from active politics after May’s watershed elections. President Cyril Ramaphosa has since dissolved the public enterprises ministry, moving the portfolio to the presidency “during the process of implementing a new shareholder model”.
Gordhan’s legacy at the department of public enterprises has divided opinion, with some people saying he presided over the decline of state-owned enterprises, including Eskom and Transnet, while others hail him for pushing back against the capture of these entities by rogue elements.
He appointed the Eskom board in September 2022. Nyati, who said Ramaphosa initially wanted him to replace André de Ruyter as CEO — an offer he said he declined — took over as chair nearly a year ago, after Mpho Makwana stepped down.
On Friday Eskom said it would announce on Monday its outlook for the summer period, which stretches from September to end-March 2025.
“The generation operational recovery plan, which commenced in March 2023, continues to enhance efficiencies for Eskom and deliver a structural shift in fleet performance. From April 1 to August 22 diesel expenditure has been reduced by R10.6bn, representing approximately a 75% decrease compared to the same period last year,” it said.
“Eskom maintained an average EAF of 68% over the past seven days, with the best-performing stations — Kusile, Kendal, Majuba, Lethabo and the peaking stations — recording an EAF of 70%. Additionally, three more power stations have achieved an EAF above 60%.
“This improvement is due to the continued benefits of accelerating and executing planned maintenance, partnering with the original equipment manufacturers, and the dedication of power station managers and their teams,” it said.
Business Day reported in June that Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank, said it did not expect Eskom’s improved operational performance to relapse and this would boost economic growth.
Last month Bank of America forecast that the SA economy could grow by about 2% in the medium term if Eskom maintained the momentum and kept the lights on for the rest of the year.
One of the most recent actions of the Nyati-led Eskom board was to approve the extension of Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei power stations’ operational lives until 2030. Previous decommissioning schedules provided for the Grootvlei and Camden power stations to be fully decommissioned by 2025 and Hendrina by 2026.
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