Labour unions at Eskom have urged incoming CEO Dan Marokane to focus on making the embattled power utility profitable, increase energy capacity and root out corruption.
Marokane, replacing Andre de Ruyter, who had a stormy relationship with labour unions, returns to Eskom and has been described by unions as a suitable candidate to turn it around.
He rejoins Eskom armed with a reputation of being an anti-state capture hero who was pushed out of the power utility, with the state capture commission of inquiry concluding that his exit was planned by the Guptas and former president Jacob Zuma.
Marokane will take up the position next April. He has an uphill battle to turn around Eskom, which has a debt of R400bn and had made a R23.9bn loss by end of the previous financial year.
The biggest union at Eskom, the National Union of Mineworkers (Num), believes Marokane’s experience and qualifications will stand him in good stead.
Num’s energy sector coordinator, Khangela Baloyi, said: “We want Dan to come with a turnaround strategy because Eskom is in trouble and needs someone who can make Eskom start making money again.”
We believe Mr Marokane should focus on connecting private generating capacity to the grid to increase capacity in the shortest possible time.
— Solidarity deputy general secretary Helgard Cronje
Baloyi said the sooner Eskom turns the corner, the better for everyone, as losing “R23bn is concerning”.
“We believe Dan is capable of doing that [turning Eskom around] given his experience and qualifications,” Baloyi said.
The National Union of Mineworkers of SA (Numsa), which was vocal in its stance against De Ruyter, declined to state its position so as to “not poison the relationship before it even starts”.
“We generally don’t comment on CEOs before they start. The only exception was Andre de Ruyter, and that was because we had direct experience with him at Nampak,” said Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.
Solidarity deputy general secretary Helgard Cronje said they believed Marokane could hit the ground running as he knew Eskom very well.
“We believe Mr Marokane should focus on connecting private generating capacity to the grid to increase capacity in the shortest possible time,” Cronje said.
He said Solidarity also wanted Marokane to immediately deal with corruption at Eskom.
“The focus on planned maintenance as implemented by De Ruyter and [former COO Jan] Oberholzer should be continued to enhance the performance of the current fleet.”
Cronje said they wanted the new CEO to ensure a culture of effective decision-making by Eskom leadership was re-established.
Marokane, who was then Eskom’s group capital head, was suspended in March 2015 by the then Zola Tsotsi-led board, without any valid reason, along with then CEO Tshediso Matona and finance director Tsholofelo Molefe.
The three were paid a combined R18.2m to leave.
Marokane, current CEO at sugar producer Tongaat Hulett and effectively Eskom’s 13th CEO in just 14 years, enters what has seemingly become a revolving door.
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