The Chairperson of South Africa’s power utility company, Eskom, Mr. Mpho Makwana has resigned.
His resignation was announced in a press statement by the Minister for Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan on Monday, October 9, 2023.
According to the Minister, Makwana would step down at the Eskom AGM scheduled for the end of October.
Mpho Makwana was appointed only a year ago and is the shortest-serving chairperson of Eskom to date.
The Minister’s statement indicated that Non-executive director Mteto Nyati would be appointed chairperson of the board.
Nyati, who previously was a CEO of Altron and MTN South Africa, stepped down from the board of Nedbank last week due to “increased capacity constraints”.
While Gordhan did not provide the reason for Makwana’s sudden departure, Makwana said in the statement that the matter had been “amicably settled”.
“I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me by the government to serve a second term as chairperson of the board of directors of Eskom. I wish Eskom and its people success and thank its committed stewards for their unstinting efforts to revive the utility. I thank the Minister for the positive, amicable manner upon which we conclude my tenure,” he stated.
Gordhan said that he wished Makwana well in his endeavours.
Speaking about the way forward, Mr. Gordhan hinted that the work to restructure Eskom and appoint new leadership was ongoing.
“Our efforts to stabilise Eskom and restructure it into three subsidiaries – generation, transmission, and distribution – remain on track. As a government, we are committed to ensuring that Eskom has the right skills, talent, and experience to support our pursuit of a more secure energy future for South Africans,” he said.
The relationship between Gordhan and Makwana deteriorated sharply in recent months.
Among the disagreements between the two has been the selection of a new CEO for Eskom.