Brown: Eskom addressed needs boss ‘now’

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown yesterday urged the Eskom board to appoint a new CEO as soon as possible, but was mum about whether suspended acting CEO Matshela Koko would be reinstated.

Koko has reportedly been found not guilty on all charges at a disciplinary hearing where he was accused of allegedly failing to declare a conflict of interest owing to his stepdaughter owning shares in a company that was awarded a tender by a division he led.

Board chairperson Zethembe Khoza said the board had received the report on the disciplinary hearing, but they still needed to deliberate before an announcement could be made.

Brown told journalists yesterday she had not yet been briefed on the outcome of Koko’s disciplinary hearing.

Meanwhile, a source told The Citizen Koko would be presented as the proposed candidate for the new chief executive.

However, Brown’s spokesperson, Colin Cruywagen, could not confirm this. During the media briefing yesterday, Brown welcomed the two recently appointed board members, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba and Professor Tshepo Mongalo, adding that more members would be appointed in the coming months out of “several strong candidates”.

She also asked the new board to finalise investigations and suspensions. “Among my first instructions to the board was, therefore, to engage the process of appointing a new group chief executive as a priority. The finalisation of the investigation into all suspended executives is of paramount importance to rebuild board reputation,” she said.

The DA called Koko’s hearing a sham and said they would lay charges.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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