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Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said in a statement on Monday afternoon that he has informed the Eskom Annual General Meeting (AGM) of his decision to appoint Jabu Mabuza as the interim executive chair for Eskom and acting CEO of Eskom Holdings.
Mabuza will assume the duty as acting group CEO for Eskom due to the resignation of Phakamani Hadebe. Hadebe leaves Eskom on July 31.
Within the three month period during which Mabuza will be the executive chair and acting CEO, the Eskom board will conclude the process of identifying a suitable candidate to become the next Eskom group CEO, according to Gordhan's statement.
Hadebe resigned in May. In his resignation letter, he cited "unimaginable demands" of the job as having a negative impact on his health.
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. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni recently announced a further R59bn over two years.
Eskom said in a statement issued on Monday evening that it welcomes the appointment of Mabuza as interim executive chair and acting group CEO.
According to Mabuza, he made himself available to serve as the interim executive chair and acting group CEO with "a good appreciation of the importance of leadership stability in the company right now as we look at the implementation of a sustainable operational and financial turnaround plan".
The statement says the board supports and welcomes Mabuza's appointment and urges stakeholders to work together to ensure that Eskom "emerges from the challenges if currently faces".
The board said it is committed to finalise the appointment of the permanent group CEO i the next three months while Mabuza is acting.
