The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has called on government to scrap the Boards of all state-owned entities (SOE). This comes after the decision by the Eskom Board to re-instate the utility’s former acting CEO Matshela Koko and acting head of group capital, Prish Govender to their positions.
Numsa says the only way to guarantee good governance is for SOE’s to be supervised by representatives from labour, civil society, business and the state.
Numsa acting spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi says the Board of Eskom has failed repeatedly in its oversight role.
“We are repeating our call for the Boards of state owned enterprises to be scrapped. In particular this must happen at Eskom. As Numsa we will intensify our campaign against the culture of corruption at Eskom. We will also consult with our attorneys to see what legal options we have to counter the seemingly bogus disciplinary process.”
On Wednesday, Eskom said they are adamant that the disciplinary process that cleared two of its senior executives of any wrongdoing was transparent.
Allegations against Koko related to him awarding contracts to a company linked to his step daughter.
The DA said the disciplinary process was a sham.
Eskom added they are ready to defend itself if the DA takes legal action against the company’s decision to reinstate two senior executives.
The power utility’s spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe insisted that the disciplinary process was conducted professionally.
“If they do go to court, Eskom will be able to present its case there to show that the whole process was done in a very professional and transparent manner. This notion that Eskom did not do anything essentially to protect the integrity of the hearing is incorrect. We have noted that the DA is saying that they are gonna take the matter to court and we welcome everyone’s opinions about how this company should be run because it is a public institution,” said Phasiwe.
