Cape Town – Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown is not replacing the entire Eskom board, the Treasury said in a response to a newspaper report on Thursday.
The Business Report quoted Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene as saying that Brown had indicated to him that “she is working on appointing a full board for Eskom, not just a replacement of the individuals but a full board of Eskom”.
The Business Report said replacing the full Eskom board could potentially add to the power utility’s instability, creating a leadership vacuum.
However, Nene’s office said in a statement that the report was based on an inaccurate interpretation of his comments.
“During the first round of board appointments, when the proposals of names for the Eskom board was taken to cabinet in December 2014, … Brown only appointed 11 board members,” said Treasury spokesperson Phumza Macanda.
“The maximum number of members of the board is 13, in terms of Eskom’s memorandum of incorporation.
“Minister Brown has initiated the process of filling the two vacant positions and will also need to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of the chairperson."
Macanda said Nene’s comments relate to this process. “There is no process to replace the board of Eskom as reported by Business Report,” said Macanda.