Six international development finance institutions urged Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to urgently change the board and top management at Eskom.
The institutions sounded the alarm in November already, warning Brown not to appoint anyone tainted by corruption.
The Sunday Times has seen a letter from the six, including the World Bank, stating they were "extremely concerned about the number of governance and compliance issues". The letter, which was copied to Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, added: "The governance issues include severe allegations of wrongdoing against members of Eskom management as well as compromised internal controls and procurement processes."The actions were the appointment of a permanent and competent board and to appoint experienced people as group CEO and chief financial officer.
"We believe that these steps are critical ... and essential for the continued partnership between Eskom and the development finance institutions," said the letter.
Brown did not act and escalated the crisis by reappointing tainted Eskom executives Matshela Koko and Prish Govender.
When Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new Eskom board last weekend, Brown tried to share the credit. She said she was "delighted that all proposed board members accepted the request to serve, to put Eskom on the right path".
Brown's spokesman, Colin Cruywagen, said yesterday the department had engaged the institutions in December after their letter, and by then the department was drawing up a shortlist for the board. The appointments of a new chairman and board were "brought forward precisely because the previous board was not instilling confidence".
Government insiders said Gigaba wanted to announce a new board in October, during the medium-term budget statement. The names recommended by Brown were, however, unsuitable.
Ramaphosa last weekend appointed the new board headed by Telkom chairman Jabu Mabuza.Nevertheless, Moody's cited further deterioration in Eskom's financial and liquidity position when it further downgraded the utility on Friday.
Brown met Mabuza this week and they discussed Eskom's immediate priorities. Among these were the financial state of Eskom, filling of vacancies and governance.
The board is due to hold its first meeting on Wednesday.
Pressure is mounting on Eskom to urgently raise R20-billion in buffer funding.
A source said that there were talks in this regard with the World Bank.
Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said: "No loans have been recalled so far by any of the lenders, and the recent swift action by the board and acting CEO Phakamani Hadebe will hopefully send a strong message that Eskom is serious about cleaning its house."..