Maroga 'oblivious' of coal threat

Johannesburg - All that Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga did when he received a report that the electricity giant was heading for a coal crisis was to hand it on to the relevant division heads.

That was in July 2007 - six months before the electricity crisis brought all mining activities in the country to a standstill.

The existence of this report was revealed by Sake24 on Friday. According to Maroga the writer of the report, Susan Olsen - an internationally renowned American oil and coal expert - had been employed by Eskom two years earlier, following the electricity crisis in the Western Cape when one of Koeberg's electricity turbines was put out of action for months by an accident that caused enormous power disruptions in that province.

"We then realised that the system was vulnerable. Susan was appointed by the head of primary energy, Rob Lions, to investigate the coal situation," explained Maroga at a news conference at Megawatt Park on Friday evening.

Eskom's entire executive committee attended the news conference.

Maroga admitted that he had received the report and discussed it with Olsen. Other than passing it on to two divisional heads, Lions and Echwood Matya, the head of electricity generation at the time, he had done nothing.

Olsen's services were terminated shortly after her interview with Maroga.

Maroga acknowledged that Eskom had underestimated its coal-procurement problems.

Lions' employment was terminated shortly after the electricity crisis in January last year and the coal division, referred to by Eskom as "Primary Energy", was given a higher profile and placed under the direct control of Brian Dames, who was appointed in a new position as head of operations.

"That is what I did to reduce our vulnerability in terms of primary energy," Maroga said.

- Sake24.com

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