On Friday,the South African power utility Eskom has confirmed an appointment of Dan Marokane as Group Chief Executive and will start no later than 31 March 2024.
The appointment of Marokane came almost twelve months later followed the resignation of his predecessor Andre Ruyter on 15 December 2022.
He will takeover from Acting Chief Executive Officer Calib Cassim who have been captaining an ailing state power utility since December 2022.
Marokane will be not a newbie at the power utility as he worked there up until he got suspended during a state capture cleanup in the state-owned enterprises(SOEs).
Eskom said Mr Marokane is a qualified Chemical Engineer,with an MBA and is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years senior leadership experience.Mr Marokane returns to Eskom after he and three other senior executives were suspended following an ethical stand they took against state capture,fraud and corruption.
The appointment of Marokane has been welcomed even by the board of the state power utility.
Eskom said according to Mteto Nyati,Chairman of the Eskom Board,the appointment of Marokane follows a long,rigorous and meticulous recruitment process.The Eskom Board embarked on a global search for a suitable candidate with the necessary leadership,experience and business orientation with a solid track record in the energy sector.
"Dan has experience in managing complex strategic,operational and commercial turnaround across the private and public sectors.He also has in-depth knowledge of the Eskom environment.He leads from the front.He will hit the ground running.That is what Eskom and South Africa need right now,"added Nyati.
"We are delighted to have him on board and are confident that he,the executive committee and the Board will work well together in rebuilding an Eskom of tomorrow that is anchored on high performance culture,"concluded Nyati.
On Friday,followed his appointment as the new CEO of the power utility,Marokane has expressed his excitement and promised to fix problems facing Eskom.
"It is an honour to be chosen to lead Eskom at this critical juncture in its history.I look forward to working with the leadership team,Eskom Board,the Shareholder and other key stakeholders to accelerate implementation of the Generation Recovery Plan,the creation of transmission capacity as well as other critical Eskom priorities and chart a path to a sustainable future for Eskom.If it is to be,it is up to us,"said Marokane.
Marokane's appointment came at a crucial time for the power utility which is struggling to keeps the lights on and that has contributed negatively to the economic growth of the country.
Eskom is one of the state-owned-enterprises which was affected by mismanagement and corruption which was experienced a lot under the administration of former President Jacob Zuma and that led to the establishment of state-capture commission which was tasked to investigate any irregularities to all stated-owned companies such as SAA,Denel,SABC and many more.
So,Marokane will be oversee the operations of all Eskom's power stations and make sure that are run efficiently and effectively.
These are power stations that are owned by Eskom are as follows: Matimba Power Station,Medupi Power Station,Kusile Power Station,Kendal Power Station,Koeberg Nuclear Power Station and many others.