Eskom to meet with Business Leadership SA over its suspension

Power utility Eskom says it has noted the decision by Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) to suspend its membership.

“Eskom’s Interim Group Chief Executive Johnny Dladla has written a letter to the BLSA leadership for a meeting to address their concerns and agree on the way forward‚” Eskom said in a statement.

BLSA announced on Thursday that it has suspended Eskom and Transnet’s membership with immediate effect.

The business lobby group said the suspension followed “extensive allegations of corrupt behaviour”.

BLSA CEO Bonang Mohale said in a statement: “South Africans have been rightly disturbed in recent times at the numerous allegations of corrupt behaviour and colossal failures of corporate governance and accountability at both Eskom and Transnet.”

BLSA said it had engaged with Eskom and Transnet over the allegations‚ but had found their response inadequate.

“Neither of the SOEs were able to give BLSA comfort that they appreciated the seriousness of the issues at hand‚ or that they had the requisite will and purpose to put their houses in order. This left BLSA with no choice but to suspend their memberships from the organisation. We have to live by our values and will take a zero-tolerance approach to any organisation found in breach.”

Eskom and Transnet have been embroiled in allegations linked to state capture. Several senior officials at the state entities have been accused of doing the bidding of the politically connected Gupta family.