Considering that South Africa\u2019s debt-stricken and loss-making state power utility poses the number on risk to the economy, appointing a permanent chief executive officer to turn it around is widely seen as a top priority for President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
Yet while the government pledged to name a new head of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. by the end of October, it\u2019s missed repeated deadlines to act, evidence of how politically fraught the process has been.<\/p>\n
Jabu Mabuza, the utility\u2019s chairman, has filled the post in an interim capacity since Phakamani Hadebe quit in July.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa said almost a month ago that the appointment would be made \u201csoon,\u201d a pledge he\u2019s repeated several times since, while Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told Johannesburg-based radio station 702 the name would be announced by 10 November.<\/p>\n
And Jackson Mthembu, a minister in the presidency, said on 31 October that the cabinet had made its selection – but it remains under wraps.<\/p>\n
“The delay in announcing the CEO is another clear indication of the power struggle around Eskom,” said Darias Jonker, a London-based director at Eurasia Group Ltd.<\/p>\n
“Competing interest groups each have their preferred candidate and Ramaphosa is yet again wavering over a key government decision.”<\/p>\n
The new CEO will help oversee government plans to split Eskom into generation, transmission and distribution units under a state holding company — a breakup opposed by powerful labor unions who see it as a precursor to privatisation and job losses.<\/p>\n