Hunt is on for new Eskom CEO

Eskom has started advertising for a new Group CEO to replace
Phakamani Hadebe, who resigned in May.

In his resignation letter, Hadebe cited “unimaginable
demands” of the job as having a negative impact on his health. He is set
to leave Eskom at the end of July.

Cabinet approved Hadebe’s appointment as permanent CEO in May
2018, after he had been serving in an acting capacity since January 2018.

An advertisement for the job stated that the new CEO will be
tasked with restructuring the debt-ridden power producer into three entities,
as announced earlier this year.

In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that Eskom
would be split into three business units focused on generation, transmission
and distribution in a bid to improve efficiency.

Government has allocated Eskom R23bn for each of the next three
fiscal years, as the state entity battles a severe liquidity crisis which is
threatening power generation.

The state-owned electricity producer has had numerous CEO
changes over the last four years, including Brian Molefe who resigned in 2016 after
being implicated in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s ‘State of Capture’
report.

Eskom said the it was looking for a candidate who would
shape the future of the company and “ensure its financial and operational
sustainability results.”

Eskom supplies 95% of South Africa’s electricity, and is
facing a debt burden of nearly R500bn.