Khoza’s resignation welcome‚ but does not absolve him, says DA

The Democratic Alliance has welcomed what it called the long-overdue resignation of Eskom chairman Zethembe Khoza but said his resignation does not absolve him of the role he played in the decline of the parastatal.

The DA’s shadow minister of public enterprises‚ Natasha Mazzone‚ said the DA would not allow Khoza‚ or any other person implicated in corruption at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or state capture to escape the consequences.

Fin24 reported on Saturday that Khoza had sent a letter of resignation to Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown on Friday but was still waiting for her to accept it.

"I think it's in [the] good interest of the country... after all the noise‚ it's better for me‚" Fin24 quoted Khoza as saying.

News of his resignation comes amid speculation that a new Eskom board will be appointed this weekend. Mazzone said it was imperative that there was no unnecessary delay in the appointment of a new Eskom chair and CEO.

“We cannot allow speculation to do even more damage to our besieged energy utility‚” she said.

Mazzone said Khoza’s resignation and the leadership vacuum at Eskom “once again shows Minister Lynn Brown’s complete inability to manage our SOEs”.

“The appointment of suitable and capable Chairperson and CEO is only the first step in helping ESKOM recover from the chronic mismanagement and looting which has brought the parastatal to the brink of collapse‚” she added.