The head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO), Karen Breytenbach, has been asked to vacate her position.
In a statement, the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC), which comprises the Department of Energy (DOE), National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, announced its decision to ask Breytenbach to leave following issues of “operational instability.”
“The Department of Energy, as the chair of the JIC, requested a meeting to address issues that were creating operational instability at the IPP office. These matters had a negative impact on the IPP office and if unresolved as a matter of urgency, had potential to destabilise operations and affect personnel negatively,” the JIC said.
The Department of energy said a meeting of the joint implementation committee, which the department chairs, was called to “address issues” which had the potential to destabilise operations and affect personnel negatively.
The committee unanimously agreed that “the current situation was untenable and agreed on the need for urgent action to be taken to create stability at the IPP Office.
Breytenbach said she was axed without explanation and with nine months left on her contract, Bloomberg quoted Breytenbach as saying.
“This decision is taken approximately five months after the expiry of the contract of the head of the IPP office. Since the expiry of the contract, it has become clear to the department that it is not possible to resolve the appointment of the head of the IPP office under the current circumstances,” the department of energy said.
This JIC said its decision was preceded by numerous attempts by the department to find a resolution to the matter.
“The department is committed to creating stability at the IPP office and to support the transitioning of the office into an institution established through legislation. We envisage to have a newly established institution that will have its own governance structure, in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and other applicable legislation to institutions of a similar nature,” the energy department added.
“The IPPO continues to play an important role in providing process certainty for private funding to enter the power generation market, and it’s important that the decision to stabilise operations and strengthen governance is communicated effectively,” the energy department said.
Last year, South Africa announced plans to invite bidders for additional renewable power projects worth as much as R50bn.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has targeted energy as a major contributor in his drive to attract $100bn of investment.
