THEBE MABANGA
ACTING Director-General of Public Enterprises Kgathatso Tlhakudi is set to be confirmed as permanent in the post after acting for more than 18 months, Inside Politics can reveal.
An aviation industry source with extensive dealings with the department told Inside Politics that senior managers have received communication that Tlhakudi will be announced as the department’s next DG.
Tlhakudi, who was previously the Deputy Director-General for Manufacturing Enterprises at the department , has acted in the post since October 2018 following the departure of Richard Seleke, the former DG who left under a cloud and through a settlement after he was found to have links with the controversial Gupta family.
In his period in charge, Tlhakudi has overseen, among a range of issues, the stabilisation of South African Airways (SAA), which this week reached a critical milestone when the Business Rescue Plan (BRP) was adopted.
Tlhakudi addressed the creditors’ meeting.
He has also helped oversee critical leadership appointment to bring stability at Eskom and Transnet, who both now have new CEOs.
During the National Lockdown, he briefed parliament’s portfolio committee on Public Enterprises about the Department’s Strategic Plan for the next five years.
Departmental spokesperson Richard Mantu declined to comment, telling Inside Politics to await a Cabinet statement, where DG and board appointments for state entities are made.
Cabinet is set to meet this weekend.
Previous occupants of the post include Portia Derby (formerly Molefe), who is now the CEO of Transnet, and former Trade and Industry DG, Tshediso Matona, who then left for an ill-fated stint as Eskom CEO and is mow with the Presidency.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
