FIVE candidates have been shortlisted to take on the role of Eskom CEO.
This was announced by Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana, who spoke at the National Demand Side Management Indaba on Monday morning.
“We’ve been quite advanced in the shortlisting process for the next new chief executive of Eskom, such that we now have a small shortlist of five candidates,” Makwana said.
Makwana did not reveal the names of the five candidates.
Eskom first advertised for the Eskom CEO position at the start of February — around two months after former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter announced that he would be leaving his post.
De Ruyter was expected to vacate the role at the end of March 2023, but left with immediate effect on 28 February, following his explosive media interview on My Guest Tonight with Annika Larson.
There were some noteworthy differences in the job listing Eskom released in 2023 compared to the listing in 2019 when De Ruyter was appointed.
Notably, in 2023 it was specified that the new CEO should “comply with Government policies”, which has led to fears that the Eskom board is looking for a pliant CEO.
Calib Cassim is acting as Eskom’s CEO until a permanent appointment is made.
Speaking at the Indaba, Cassim announced plans to reduce demand on the grid by 1,500MW through demand-side management.
If the reduction is achieved, that would equal one and a half stages of load-shedding.
Eskom’s head of distribution Monde Bala identified opportunities to reduce demand in public lighting and traditional geysers, amongst other areas.
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