MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, MR PRAVIN GORDHAN, MP

Resignation of Mr Mark Lamberti as Director of Eskom, 07 April 2018

On Friday evening, 06 April 2018, Mr Mark Lamberti resigned as a Director from the Eskom board. His resignation was duly accepted.

“This decision is motivated by my fiduciary duty to Eskom and my consistent and proven record of acting insofar as possible in the best interests of South Africa,” Mr Lamberti stated in his resignation letter.

He cited the High Court judgment of 23 March 2018 in the matter of J Chowan v Associated Motor Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Others, as the reason for his resignation. In representations to the Eskom board, Mr Lamberti maintained that “while mistakes were made and there are important lessons to be learnt, there were no findings in the judgment of race or gender discrimination against AMH (Associated Motor Holdings), Imperial or myself.”

“Despite this, there has been a mainstream and social media frenzy of generally inaccurate commentary. This is being fuelled by a political agenda and legally incorrect interpretations of the judgment, which have culminated inter alia in the most vitriolic defamation of my person. The most telling aspect of this is the call for the Minister and indeed the President to remove me from the Eskom board,” the letter stated.

Mr Lamberti must be commended for taking the difficult decision to put the interests of Eskom, the board and the country above all else.

Mr Lamberti has stated that he cannot, in good conscience, accept any compensation from Eskom and will return the fees paid to him as most of the Eskom board’s work to date has been preparatory.

Statement issued by Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Public Enterprises, 7 April 2018