Merry-go-round of Eskom bosses in past decade
The Eskom CEO position has been described as a poisoned chalice, with 10 chief executive officers going through the door over the past decade.
Mpho Makwana. November 2009-June 2010
Appointed in an acting capacity following the resignation of Jacob Maroga and credited with leading the team that avoided blackouts during the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Makwana’s term ended with the appointment of Brian Dames to the position of permanent CEO in July 2010.
Brian Dames. July
2010-March 2014
Resigned from Eskom, citing personal reasons, and is credited with stabilising the power utility after blackouts in 2007 and keeping the lights on.
Collin Matjila. April 2014-September 2014
Acted in the position following Dames’ resignation and handed over the reins to Tshediso Matona months later.
Tshediso Matona. October 2014-April 2015
Synonymous with the Eskom silo that collapsed at Majuba power station, resulting in the resurfacing of load shedding.
Brian Molefe. April 2015-November 2016
Managed to keep the lights on
during his tenure but this legacy was soon tainted when he was implicated in former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s state of capture report.
Matshela Koko. May 2016May 2017
Tenure was tainted by a Sunday Times report that a firm in which his stepdaughter was a director allegedly pocketed R1 billion worth of Eskom contracts.
Johnny Dladla. June 2017-October 2017
Acted as Eskom CEO during the Brian Molefe saga from Mid 2017 but was removed in October 2017 as the board had to rotate executives in the CEO role.
Sean Maritz. October 2017January
2018
Replaced Dladla but in January 2018 reports surfaced that he had signed off on a R400 million payment to a Hong Kong bank account against legal advice.
Phakamani Hadebe. January 2018-July 2019
Tasked with leading a turnaround strategy at Eskom, dealing with rising debt, operational challenges that led black outs and charting a way forward for the ailing entity.
Jabu Mabuza: August 2019
During his short stint at the helm, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tabled a Special Appropriations Bill allocating R59 billion for Eskom to meet its financial obligations.