Board for National Transmission Company
The Eskom board took an important step in the entity’s unbundling when it appointed the board of directors for the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) this week.
This is the beginning of Eskom’s legal separation into the three entities of generation, distribution and transmission.
The separation is a key component of the Eskom Turnaround Plan outlined in the department of public enterprises’ road map for the power utility in a reformed electricity supply industry.
The transmission division is the first to achieve legal separation and has already been registered and received the necessary licences from the National Energy Regulator of SA. “The appointment of the NTCSA board takes Eskom a step closer to unlocking the potential that comes with the planned transformation of the electricity industry,” said Eskom board chair Mteto Nyati.
The chair of the NTCSA is Priscillah Mabelane, the vice-president for energy business at Sasol. She is a chartered accountant with experience in leadership, corporate finance, strategy, energy, and risk.
The other board members include:
Dr Brian Armstrong (the lead independent director) is regarded as one of the foremost information and communication technology industry leaders in SA and is professor in the Chair of Digital Business at the Wits Business School. He was Eskom’s group chief operating officer and group chief commercial officer.
Lungile Mashele is an energy economist, an award-winning energy professional and banker with more than 12 years of energy industry experience in Africa. She is currently an energy and infrastructure specialist at the Public Investment Corporation and has worked as an energy economist and specialist at Eskom and the Development Bank of SA.
Carmen le Grange was the chief financial officer of Denel. She is a chartered accountant with 22 years of experience in auditing and consulting and was a partner at PwC.
Anu Sing has worked as an engineer, investment banker and in telecommunications. She spent five years with MTN, where she was group executive for business intelligence, group executive for strategic business operations and general manager for passive infrastructure. She holds an MBA and a BSc in mechanical engineering.
Nkosinathi Solomon, who holds an MBA and a BSc in chemical engineering, has experience in leading transforming organisations and his competencies include strategy formulations, people change management and is an experienced board member.
Prof Mark Swilling was chair of the Development Bank of SA until 2023. He is the codirector of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University. In 2010 he was awarded the Aspen Faculty Pioneer Award for success in introducing sustainability into leadership education.
Auke Lont is highly regarded internationally in the transmission system operator environment and former CEO of Norway’s Statnett. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy industry and understands the SA electricity market reform context. He holds a masters of economics from Vrije University in Amsterdam.
The others are Prof Francis Petersen, Sedzani Mudau, Dr Busisiwe Vilakazi and Tryphosa Ramano.
Eskom a step closer to transformation of industry