Johannesburg - The board of South African power utility Eskom insisted on Wednesday that chief executive Jacob Maroga has resigned despite his denial, raising more questions about the leadership wrangle at the firm.
Meanwhile, another parastatal is struggling with a defiant CEO. The board of Armscor has asked CEO Sipho Thomo to resign but a standoff is looming as he refuses to go.
Maroga, who quit last week, returned to work on Monday after apparently winning out in a power struggle with chairperson Bobby Godsell, who resigned the same day.
But spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said Maroga has not been back to his office since Tuesday, adding that the board has not changed its stance on the chief executive's resignation.
"The board is of the view that Jacob offered his resignation, that they had accepted it and that he is no longer the chief executive ... that's been their position since October 28th," he said.
Maroga's tenure has been marked by power shortages, a record loss of R9.7bn in the year to March and electricity price rises criticised for stoking inflation as South Africa battles recession.
Unnerving foreigners
The leadership battle could further unnerve mining firms and foreign investors, uncertain whether Eskom will be able to supply enough power to run their operations after a low reserve margin brought the national grid to a near halt early last year.
Godsell resigned saying the government failed to support the board's bid to oust Maroga after the two clashed over issues of how to run state-owned Eskom.
The former chairperson said Maroga offered to resign during the latest board meeting and the board had accepted his resignation.
Acting chairperson Mpho Makwana, appointed after Godsell quit, declined to elaborate on the recent developments.
Perceived political manoeuvring in resolving the power struggle has raised questions about South Africa's ability to run state-owned firms and could backfire with investors hesitant to commit new funds, analysts said.
Key roles at state-owned firms, including logistics group Transnet, have been left unfilled as the companies struggle to resolve internal battles.
Both Transnet and Eskom struggle to raise funds to pay for their vast expansion programmes needed to feed fast-rising demand, especially as credit markets remain tight.
"These are crucial organisations for South African business, they're often in a monopoly situation ... government needs to ensure that these companies are managed effectively," said Mike Davis, an analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia.
"That's hugely important in terms of the export-led growth in the country and the strategies that various people are calling for in terms of trying to create labour absorbent markets ... and ensuring that Eskom keeps the lights on."
Meanwhile, the defence parastatal Armscor board chairperson Popo Molefe told Parliament's portfolio committee on defence on Wednesday that he asked Thomo last week to quit, and gave him three days to mull the matter.
Briefing the committee while Thomo was asked to leave the room, he said Armscor had come to the conclusion that "he's taking all of us down" and that the state arms procurement utility's woes would only be resolved if he left.
"We have asked him to resign ...He should have come back to me on Saturday. By Monday he has not done so," Molefe said. "We now have to look at which options are open to us."
Thomo told reporters that he had no plans to do so.
"I'm not planning to resign. I have no reason to resign," he said.
Molefe said the board did not need the state's backing to dismiss Thomo.
Opposition MPs welcomed the board's decision to ask Thomo to step down but asked why it had taken them so long.
Long-stading tension
They suggested that it was his handling of information about the cost of the country's now cancelled deal to buy Airbus A400M heavy-lift planes that finally prompted the board to act despite long-standing tension with Thomo.
Thomo admitted to shocked MPs last month that the cost had rocketed from an already steep R17bn in 2006 to an "estimated" R47bn. Cabinet scrapped the deal last week.
"That was very badly handled. We think it was the last straw that broke the camel's back," an MP told Sapa.
In September, the Democratic Alliance protested that Thomo was receiving excessive pay increases while Armscor to battled to fulfill its mandate.
Armscor denied this, saying he had been paid an increase of 6.8% in 2007/08 and 13.26% in 2008/09, bringing his salary to R1.45m.
The company revealed however that Armscor had paid Thomo, who had at one stage been tipped to take over at Denel, a restraint of trade payment. It comes to one year's salary, of which 60% was paid earlier this year.
The rest is to be paid upon termination of his contract.
Thomo's contract led to strife between Armscor and the department of defence because the board failed to consult the minister about his conditions.
The contract was drafted last year and signed in February after it emerged that Thomo had been employed through a letter of employment and not a formal contract.
- Reuters and Sapa