Bar bonuses to ‘inept’ Eskom bosses – DA
THE DA has urged Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to stop bonus payments to “ineffective” Eskom executives.
Brown had the power to stop “the handover of millions of public money to Eskom executives who have utterly failed, and in some cases, are the cause of the dire financial situation at the power utility”, DA spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone said.
The DA publicly called on Brown to reject the request to approve short-term bonuses of R5.5 million for three former and current executives, which formed part of a R13m payment for top executives – R2.1m for former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe, R1.5m for suspended acting chief executive Matshela Koko, and R1.9m for chief financial officer Anoj Singh.
“The fact is that Eskom may not be able to pay salaries to its 49 000 employees come November. According to reports, its income decreased from R5.3 billion last year to R900m in June, while the interest it accrued on its debt jumped to R38bn from R31bn,” Mazzone said.
“Eskom finances are in a shambles. The true state of Eskom’s financial situation is markedly different from the picture of excellence painted by Mr Ben Ngubane (former Eskom board chairman) when he and the board appeared before the portfolio committee on public enterprises two months ago.
Squandered
“It is utterly unacceptable for executive bonuses to be paid while ordinary employees may not be paid. Only good performance should be rewarded. Yet Eskom is clearly intent on doing the opposite. The DA will not allow public money to be squandered on ineffective executives while the livelihoods of ordinary employees are put at risk,” Mazzone said.