South Africa’s electricity company, Eskom, is set to have a new chief executive officer by the end of the year, according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The beleaguered company has been without a full-time head for over seven months, leading to concerns about its stability and ability to address the country’s power challenges.
Pravin Gordhan also mentioned that Transnet, the country’s freight company, will be appointing a new CEO soon. However, he acknowledged that finding the right person for these roles is a difficult challenge in the southern African context.
[ Tshwane’s Eskom Debt Has Risen To R3.2 Billion And Counting ]
South Africa, as Africa’s most industrialized nation, has been grappling with power outages caused by Eskom’s inefficiencies and Transnet’s inability to run rail operations at full capacity.
These issues have had a detrimental impact on the country’s mineral exports and have disrupted the economy, which is worth $406 billion.
Last year alone, Transnet’s inefficiencies may have cost South Africa R150 billion in lost exports, as reported by the Minerals Council.
The consequences of these challenges are already being felt, with companies like Glencore and Seriti Resources Holdings initiating talks to cut hundreds of jobs due to their limited ability to export coal.
In a separate announcement, Nedbank revealed that former MTN CEO Mteto Nyati would be resigning as an independent non-executive director of Eskom.
This decision comes as Nyati faces increased capacity constraints, prompting him to step down from both Eskom and Telkom’s boards.
