New Board to Put Embattled South African Power Utility on Course?

The chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises, Khaya Magaxa, has welcomed the announcement of the new 13-member Eskom Board. The newly constituted board was announced by Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan is hopeful that the new board will be able to deliver on a turnaround at the utility.

The appointments come amid the power utility's latest load shedding bout, which has lasted three weeks. "One of the expectations that we have as the committee is that the new board should be thinking about creative ways of improving the available Eskom energy by addressing the functioning of power stations that are experiencing increased breakdowns, resulting in blackouts," said Magaxa.

The move comes after Eskom proposed a 32% in the electricity tariff.

The Western Cape government, which is run by the opposition Democratic Alliance, said in a press release: "Years of national government mismanagement and corruption have driven a huge increase in the general cost of living in our country, which has been further exacerbated by the job-killing energy crisis. South African residents and businesses are now being dealt hammer blows on all fronts - in service provision, in declining infrastructure, in a stymied job market, all of which are making life impossible to afford for many residents, and are bringing the poorest of the poor to their knees. South Africans across the board simply cannot absorb such a drastic increase, and it should not be granted to Eskom."