Meet the new Eskom board meant to tackle load shedding

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has unveiled the new members of the Eskom board who have a tough task ahead of them as the embattled power utility struggles to fulfill its core mandate – providing electricity.

South Africans have had to put up with endless bouts of load shedding since the start of the month due to several factors, including the loss of generation capacity at Eskom’s power stations. Rod Crompton, who served on the previous board will retain his post, while CEO Andre De Ruyter and CFO Calib Cassim will be the utility’s executive directors.

The new board is expected to resume its duties on Saturday, 1 October 2022.

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WHO ARE THE NEW ESKOM BOARD MEMBERS?

In a lengthy statement, Pravin Gordhan says the new board brings broad experience, expertise and skills that will provide stability and strategic ditrection to the entity. Their task will be to reposition Eskom to play a key role in the energy sector.

“The Minister would like the incoming board to deal with immediate current load shedding issues, procurement, elimination of corruption and ensuring that there is reliability of energy supply in the medium to long term. The Minister would like to thank the previous board members for their work and wishes the new Board well during their tenure,” said the Public Enterprises Ministry.

Mr Mpho Makwana: The new Chairperson of the Eskom board who holds several qualifications and serves on a number of other boards including as a non-executive chairman of ArcelorMittal South Africa.

Dr Busisiwe Vilakazi: Holds a DPhil in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford and has experience in ICT Research, Innovation, Data Science and Analytics, Strategy and Digital Transformation.

Mr Lwazi Goqwana: An engineer with 25 years of experience in Manufacturing, Construction, Financial Services, Logistics, Energy and Government Services. Has worked for several brands, including Barclays Africa.

Other new board members include Clive le Roux, Leslie Mkhabela, Mteto Nyati, Fatima Gany, Ayanda Mafuleka, Dr Tsakani Mthombeni, Dr Claudelle von Eck, Tryphosa Ramano and Bheki Ntshalintshali.