Mr Gordhan “get a life”… Cachalia fumes over 7-month wait for new ESKOM CEO

The motives behind Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s rejection of the ESKOM board’s recommendation for a new CEO have been questioned. Ghaleb Cachalia, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises says that the Minister seems to be looking for somebody who meets his “specifications” rather than those of the board. Cachalia points out that representatives on the ESKOM board were “vetted and appointed” by the Minister himself. “These are people whom he trusts. The chairman of the board is an old acolyte of the minister. He has put him in places in the past all over the show to do business on his behalf. He’s put him now in a very important position, but he doesn’t value what he says. We need to know why.” Cachalia notes that the job of ESKOM CEO is a “hospital pass of note” – and that the struggling power supplier’s new boss would need “nerves of steel” to be able to stand up to political interference. – Chris Steyn

Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.

Watch here

Relevant timestamps from the interview

00:00 – Introductions
00:30 – Ghaleb Cachalia on why has it taken 7 months to replace ESKOMS CEO
03:28 – Cachalia on what can be said for the candidates who were in the running
05:03 – Do we know who the front runner was
05:54 – On Pravin Gordhan’s trust in the ESKOM board
06:32 – Are the candidates qualified to do the good job
07:24 – Are people wanting to take on the position of CEO after what happened to Andre de Ruyter
08:28 – Who he would pick as a candidate
09:58 – Conclusion

Listen here

Highlights from the interview

The motives behind Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s rejection of the ESKOM board’s recommendation for a new CEO have been questioned.

Ghaleb Cachalia, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises says that the Minister seems to be looking for somebody who meets his “specifications” rather than those of the board, which he himself had appointed.

Speaking to BizNews Cachalia says: “Mr. Gordhan has, at the 11th hour received, seven months later, recommendations from the board that he appointed…and he has kicked that down the road as well. Now, one can only infer from this that he is looking for somebody who meets his specifications, not the board’s specifications, his specifications.”

Cachalia points out that representatives on the ESKOM board were “vetted and appointed” by the Minister himself. “These are people whom he trusts. The chairman of the board is an old acolyte of the minister. He has put him in places in the past all over the show to do business on his behalf. He’s put him now in a very important position, but he doesn’t value what he says. We need to know why.”

He points out that the African National Congress (ANC) government in the past has put in place CEOs who have been “frankly disastrous” and brought the country to this particular state that ESKOM is in now. “You can go back and look at the history… and you will get a little bit of a horror story. Now what is the minister up to? Who is he looking for? And why is he kicking this down the road?”

Cachalia says, given that ESKOM is in a very difficult position “which imperils the economy and livelihoods in this country of ours”, it is “untenable” that the situation has to take this amount of time.

“This is all happening while the lights are dimming. Now, you know, to coin a phrase, Mr. Gordhan must get a life.”

As for who would be most suitable for the job, Cachalia says: “It’s not just a question of having the expertise to do so. It’s a question of being able to stand up to political interference and to say thus far and no further, because I want to implement what is right and what I’ve been hired to do on these lines for these reasons.

“Now, when we had a CEO who did that seven months ago, he got shown the door effectively – his life threatened by the way.”

Asked who would be keen to take on the job after former CEO André de Ruyter’s acrimonious departure, Cachalia says: “Well, it’s a hospital pass of note and people would be very circumspect about taking it on. However, they would be properly remunerated, I presume. The money is not inconsiderable. And if they were able to say, in order to do my job, I need these particular assurances that these things will not stand in my way, and that I have a clear line of sight to the board, and that I will be able, we together will be able to fashion the future of this entity in a proper way, which is what I have been tasked with. Now, those qualities don’t come easily. You need to have…nerves, shall I say, rather than the other word, of steel.”