'Eskom board wants chairman removed'

The Eskom board wants its chairman Zola Tsotsi removed, City Press reported on Sunday.

In a meeting on Thursday, all board members unanimously resolved to pass a motion of no confidence in Tsotsi, according to the paper.

"All of them want him out," a unnamed source close to the board was quoted as saying.

"He has absolutely no understanding of corporate governance. None."

The charges reportedly levelled against Tsotsi by his fellow board members included interfering with the executive and signing off certain documents on behalf of Eskom, thereby undermining the chief executive and other executive directors.

The board meeting on Thursday reportedly ran into the early hours of Friday morning and was marked by clashes between the chairman and other board members.

According to City Press, after heated arguments Tsotsi was asked to leave the meeting because the other board members wanted to discuss the issue among themselves.

An insider told the paper that Tsotsi was initially reluctant to leave the meeting, but was eventually overruled and had to leave the room.

"In his absence, they tabled a vote of no confidence in him. All of them want him out," the source was quoted as saying.

The board then reportedly asked for a meeting with Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown in Cape Town on Friday.

Brown admitted to the paper that she met some of the board members on Friday but said the recommendation to remove Tsotsi as chairman had not been communicated to her.