After 21 days without an acting CEO at Eskom‚ Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown has finally appointed a veteran employee of the parastatal‚ Johnny Dladla‚ to take over the reins after she failed to meet her 48-hour deadline.

This follows a harsh backlash from various political parties‚ including the African National Congress‚ the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters after an inter-ministerial committee concluded that Brown should order the Eskom board to rescind former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe’s reinstatement.

The inter-ministerial committee consisted of Justice Minister Michael Masutha‚ Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba and Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi‚ who were all appointed by President Jacob Zuma following a public outcry over Molefe’s return to the power utility a few weeks ago.

Brown had initially committed to appointing an acting CEO within 48 hours after Molefe’s reinstatement was rescinded.

“We don’t have timelines of when we will be appointing a permanent CEO but the minister did emphasise that the board needs to move with speed to get a permanent CEO‚” said board spokesperson Khulani Qoma.

Asked about the second name that the board submitted to Brown as per her request‚ Qoma said it was no longer relevant for the name to be divulged.

“Well that is inconsequential now and we would not want to make that name available to the public because we’ve now moved beyond the two names and have a CEO which is Mr Dladla who was the best candidate for the position‚” said Qoma.

The appointment of Dladla follows much speculation that former acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko would be permanently appointed in the position. Koko‚ who is head of generation at Eskom‚ was relieved of his acting chief executive duties when Molefe returned briefly last month.

Qoma said that although Koko had occupied the position‚ he was not part of the “equation” when candidates were being screened to act in the position.

Moreover‚ the Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr report‚ which investigated a potential conflict of interest regarding Koko’s stepdaughter‚ Koketso Choma‚ was received by Eskom on Monday.

The investigation follows a report in the Sunday Times on 26 March 2017‚ which revealed that Choma was a director at Impulse International when it netted at least R1bn in contracts from Eskom in just 11 months.

Koko was subsequently placed on leave pending the report.

According to Eskom’s acting board chairman Zethembe Khoza‚ Dladla has sufficient skills to excel in his role as he has 22 years of experience within the parastatal‚ 17 years invested in various non-regulated businesses and five years as chief executive officer for Eskom Enterprises and its subsidiaries.

The ANC welcomed Dladla’s appointment but said the CEO’s portfolio must be permanently filled as soon as possible.

“We welcome the fact that an acting CEO has been appointed. As the ANC‚ we would encourage all measures that speak to bringing stability to the power utility and we hope that this appointment is going to carry forward the decisions of the board to ensure stability. At the same time‚ Eskom will move speedily with the appointment of a permanent CEO‚” said ANC communications manager Khusela Sangoni.    

However Democratic Alliance shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Natasha Mazzone said she wanted to scrutinise Dladla’s resume.

“I am going to be asking what names were submitted and whether or not those who applied following the advert were in fact interviewed and were considered. I want a full copy of the new CEO’s CV and I want to know why Eskom didn’t bring in ‘new blood’ as it is our feeling that an external expert should have been appointed‚” she told The Times.

The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi had not commented at the time of publication.