After Eskom group CEO Dan Marokane yesterday announced key executive appointments, independent energy expert Crown Prince Adil Nchabeleng said this showed sterling leadership.
Marokane yesterday announced the first four of seven new executive appointments to further address the current business challenges and future-proof the organisation through the delivery of strategic initiatives to enable growth and long-term sustainability.
They are: Portia Mngomezulu as group executive of corporate services; Nontokozo Hadebe as group executive: strategy and sustainability; Roman Crookes as group executive of group capital and chief Information and Len de Villiers as chief information and technology officer.
In a statement yesterday Eskom said it was aligning its executive execution capability and capacity to focus its skilled people in the best structure where they can deliver value the fastest.
Marokane said, “Eskom recognised that it needed to bring in some new skills at the executive level to guide its teams in the business so it can execute strategic initiatives in a competitive market faster, more efficiently, and in areas which are new to the utility. In just five months, we have closed critical positions at Eskom. I have been impressed with the volume and calibre of applicants who were willing to be associated with our brand. Our new executives had a choice of who they could work for. They chose Eskom.
“We must now more than ever remain focused on delivery and changing the way we do things, not how we are structured, to the benefit of our customers who will increasingly have a choice of energy provider as the market reforms take place. It is our intention to remain a critical player in South Africa’s evolving future energy market, and we will move at pace to recover lost ground,” said Marokane.
New executive team profile:
Portia Mngomezulu: Mngomezulu will focus on streamlining controls and capacitating the unbundled Eskom entities, leading to an efficient corporate support service.
Nontokozo Hadebe: Eskom said she will progress work in the areas of adapting Eskom’s strategy and aligning its research and development focus to solve Eskom’s current and future sustainability challenges and options.
Roman Crookes: He brings over 23 years of experience in the power industry. He will refocus the business on driving efficiency in capital projects execution and capacitating the unbundled entities appropriately.
Len de Villiers: He is appointed on a three-year contract. He is expected to assist Eskom’s business in embracing the pace of digitalisation, the use of artificial intelligence, and increased levels in areas of cybersecurity.
Nchabeleng said, “The current Eskom executive leadership under Dan Marokane has once again demonstrated that it truly understands the business fundamentals of the energy sector. The newly appointed senior management and executives bring along with them incredible skills and capabilities coupled with years of hands-on experience.
“The biggest challenge still to face is Eskom rationalizing the three newly created entities under the Eskom unbundling process (Generation, Transmission and Distribution). And working out the revenue model and tariff structure and tariff split towards the three newly created entities. We welcome the newly appointed members and wish them the best luck in their new assignment ahead,” Nchabeleng said.
Earlier yesterday, chairperson of Eskom Dr Mteto Nyati said leadership matters while delivering the keynote address at the Serious Social Investing Conference in Johannesburg.
He says this was achieved by leveraging original equipment manufacturers, people and processes, an improvement which has led to a diesel spend reduction of over R2 billion. Once Eskom achieves an EAF of 70%, there will be no more loadshedding, an achievement he expects will be reached by March next year.
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