Former Eskom Chief Executive (CEO) Tshediso Matona says his letter of suspension at the power utility came to him as a shock as the board had cleared him of all wrongdoing.
Matona was suspended in March 2015 by a board that was appointed in December the previous year.
The board, comprising of Ben Ngubane, board chair Zola Tsotsi, Venete Klein, as well as Romeo Khumalo, asked Matona to step aside amid a fact-finding mission that blamed him and other executives for the escalating load shedding.
Matona says he took the board through the challenges the power utility was facing and briefed them on issues they faced at the Eskom war room.
He says there was not sufficient need for an inquiry because the board was fairly new and had little knowledge of technical issues facing the power utility.
Matona told the State Capture Commission he found it remarkable after being told at the inquiry that the memorandum to suggest his suspension was drafted and emailed to the board by an outside consultant – a consultant who had no knowledge of issues facing the power utility.
“Now you know that the documents originated from somebody at the time, did you know that these documents came from somebody else outside of the board?” asked the commission.
“No, not at all, there had been no indication as who was the author of this. Eskom is a complex organisation, the issues are complex, the board had only one or two interactions with myself and when I saw this memorandum and issues, it really surprised me where this was coming from, it was really quite remarkable,” says Matona.
State Capture Inquiry: 07 September
Plant managers suspended
Last week, Group Chief Executive André de Ruyter suspended Tutuka and Kendal Power Station managers pending disciplinary inquiries. The Eskom board said it strongly supports the suspension.
In a statement, Eskom says further interventions are ongoing at the Kriel and Duvha power stations.
“Engagements have been held with other power station managers to ensure that the previous culture of weak consequence management will no longer be the norm and will no longer be tolerated at Eskom. The Executive has, in the meantime, deployed three senior generation managers to the sites in question (Duvha, Kriel, Tutuka and Kendal power stations) to provide leadership and oversight in person,” says Eskom.
South Africans are facing power cuts as a result of continuous breakdowns at the utility.
Eskom power supply constraints under the spotlight:
