Appointment of Eskom Chairperson

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15 June 2010

The Minister of Public Enterprises is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Mpho Makwana as Chairperson of the Eskom Board. Mr Makwana was appointed as interim Chairperson in November last year and has shown exemplary leadership in what has been quite a challenging time for Eskom.

Furthermore, the Eskom Board will also today announce the appointment of a CEO for the state-owned enterprise. We would like to wish the incumbent well in his new position. The filling of these two vacancies brings to an end months of speculation, and means that Eskom can now return its full attention to its core business.

Abridged CV of Mr Mpho Makwana

Mpho Makwana has extensive knowledge of Eskom and its operations. He has been a non-executive director of the board of directors since July 2002. He served on the board’s audit committee and its human resources and remuneration committee. He was invited to serve the Corporation as Acting Chairman and to manage Eskom’s business and operational matters, in November 2009, following the unexpected resignations of the previous Chairman and the CEO.

He is a management strategist with executive experience in both the public and private sectors. His areas of speciality include corporate strategy and strategic change management, corporate governance, human resources management, labour relations, scenario planning and brand management. His previous experience includes Chief Executive of Saatchi and Saatchi in South Africa and he has served on the South African boards of the Monitor Group, Ogilvy and Mather, Arabella Sheraton Hotels, Tourvest and the International Marketing Council. Prior to becoming interim chairman at Eskom he was group executive for corporate affairs at Edcon, one of South Africa’s major retailing groups.

He is a member of the Institute of Directors, a fellow of the Institute of People Management, an ambassador of the FutureWorld Network and a member of the Black Management Forum. He has been a member of the Council of the University of Limpopo and served on the advisory committee for the Premier of Limpopo province.

Mpho was educated at Pretoria University, (BA Admin, Hons) and the University of Zululand. He attended an executive development programme at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, has a post-graduate diploma in retailing management from Stirling University in Scotland and is currently completing an MBA through Stirling University.

Issued by: Department of Public Enterprises
15 June 2010
Source: Department of Public Enterprises
(http://www.dpe.gov.za)