Plethora of bosses to answer to would make the new leader’s task impossible
13 February 2023 - 05:00There’s no doubt about it. Eskom’s boss has many bosses. And he or she is about to have more. Indeed, between all the reporting lines and accountability, it must be hard to find the time to run Eskom.minister of electricity in the presidency
It is not clear at this stage how this new ministry will work. We have been told that it will assume full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the electricity crisis response, including the work of the national energy crisis committee. The committee, which came out of the July plan and is led by the director-general in the presidency, Phindile Baleni, is supposed to bring together all the relevant government departments and Eskom.
But just imagine the plight of the incoming Eskom CEO who at some point will be appointed to replace the outgoing André de Ruyter. There can be no question that Eskom needs to account to the nation and that it needs help. It provides the electricity which is the lifeblood of SA’s economy . It has been the recipient of billions of rand of bailout cash and is now receiving at least R23bn a year from the public purse, ahead of a more durable, taxpayer–funded solution to its debt crisis. SA certainly deserves to be informed of its progress.