Home » Pravin Gordhan Appoints Phakamani Hadebe as New Head of Eskom

Pravin Gordhan Appoints Phakamani Hadebe as New Head of Eskom

The South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has officially announced the appointment of Phakamani Hadebe as new chief executive of Eskom, on Thursday. “Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mr Phakamani Hadebe as the new group chief executive of Eskom,” said Gordhan. In making the announcement, the minister pointed out that state owned entities […]

By Wendy Mothata
24-05-18 12:55
in Business

The South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has officially announced the appointment of Phakamani Hadebe as new chief executive of Eskom, on Thursday.

“Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mr Phakamani Hadebe as the new group chief executive of Eskom,” said Gordhan.

In making the announcement, the minister pointed out that state owned entities (SOCs) are crucial to the economy, but that SOCs are experiencing financial, operational and governance challenges. He said it’s time to “re-instil an ethical culture into state owned entities”.

Gordhan said that “clearly we’ve lost a lot of ground”, and that the “consequences of state capture run quite deep”.. and so would require a lot of work on the part of the board and senior managers to ensure good governence, accountability and transparency.

He said that soon all forensic reports will have to be made public… so that the press (and South Africans) no longer need to rely on leaks for the truth.

Hadebe has been acting CEO of Eskom since January.

Gordhan says that his permanent appointment comes as “a reflection of the excellent work he has done over the last few months at the institution.”

The EFF’s Floyd Shivambu tweeted: “Congratulations to Phakamani Hadebe for his appointment as CE of ESKOM. The racist ABSA ignored his skills and expertise and promoted less qualified whites over him. Now he’s leading SA’s biggest Utility. You can’t keep a good man down. We are proud and confident.”

DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone, welcomed the appointment along with Gordhan’s other announcements today of the interventions he has made at struggling state-owned entities – a new board has been appointed at SA Express, and Cabinet has approved the new interim board appointments at Transnet and Denel.