Eskom board was in awe of Brian Molefe after he fixed load shedding
21 November 2017
Cape Town - Venete Klein, a former Eskom board member and former chairperson of the Institute of Directors of Southern Africa, said the board thought Brian Molefe was the best person for the job as chief executive.
“What happened with state capture has changed many people’s lives,” she said at the Eskom Inquiry. “I pray that we can do a proper inquiry so that those who are found guilty of wrong doing face justice quickly.
“The candidate was selected based on the information we had at the time,” she said. “What I see in the media leaves me cold. We did not have the benefit at that stage. I hope we can start the state capture inquiry so people can be held accountable.”
In a written statement to Parliament’s Eskom Inquiry, she said Molefe’s secondment from Transnet to Eskom in 2015 was relieving.
“I was particularly relieved and pleased with the manner in which Mr Molefe had brought immediate stability to the organisation and taken control of the business with all the correct results,” she said.
“At the time of Mr Molefe’s secondment, Eskom was understandably in an extremely unstable position,” she said. “In addition to the crisis at executive and board level, Eskom remained with going concern problems and stage 3 load shedding.
“The entire board, including me, was in awe of what Mr Molefe had been able to deliver, especially as he had done so with substantially the same executive team who had previously not known how to turn the load shedding situation around.
“Bearing in mind that the board had been under severe public and media scrutiny and attack since its appointment in December 2014, the turnaround experienced under Mr Molefe’s tenure had been particularly pleasing.
“In fact, such was his performance that Mr Molefe was nominated for the award of South African of the Year in 2015.
“In his tenure as acting group chief executive, Mr Molefe assisted the board with the turnaround of Eskom. Along with the rest of the board, I was impressed by Mr Molefe’s performance and the immediate and significant strides that Eskom made under his leadership.
“Mr Molefe demonstrated the expertise, urgent resolve and certainty of direction required to set Eskom on the right course.”
