Five things to know about Eskom’s transmission board chairperson Priscillah Mabelane

Priscillah Mabelane has been announced as the chairperson of the board of Eskom’s new transmission company, the National Transmission Company of SA (NTCSA). 

According to Eskom, the NTCSA is one of t Eskom’s legal separation into three entities, namely generation, distribution and transmission.

“The appointment of the NTCSA board takes Eskom a step closer to unlocking the potential that comes with the planned transformation of the electricity industry. We thank all the individuals who raised their hands to guide Eskom into a future where South Africans have a reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly supply of power,” Eskom boad chairperson, Mteto Nyati said in a statement. 

Here are five things you should know about the NTCSA board’s chair, Priscillah Mabelane: 

She was born in Limpopo 

Speaking during an interview with Fin24, Mabelane revealed that she was raised in a village called Mabocha, near Groblersdal in Limpopo. She says this is where she completed her primary and high school and revealed that she was a top student in mathematics. 

She’s the current executive vice president of Sasol 

According to Sasol, Mabelane was appointed to Sasol’s group executive committee in September 2020 when she joined from BP Southern Africa (BPSA), where she was chief executive officer. Directly prior, she was retail operations director for BP UK’s retail business and preceding this she was BPSA’s chief financial officer for four years. 

“Ms Priscillah Mabelane is executive vice president, energy business and is based in Johannesburg. She is advancing Sasol’s aspirational vision to lead the Just Energy Transition in Southern Africa and to unlock SA’s potential to be a global green hydrogen and derivatives player. She is responsible for upstream and downstream gas activities as well as distribution, marketing and sales of liquid fuels in Southern Africa,” Sasol wrote on their website. 

She is a qualified Chartered Accountant 

Having worked as a typist in her father’s business where she was exposed to bookkeeping, Mabelane told her father she wanted to become a chartered accountant. She then studied accounting at the University of Limpopo and furthered her studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She holds a Bcom Honours in accounting. 

Her career spans over 20 years in the financial, oil and energy industries 

Her career began when she worked for Ernst&Young as a tax director. She also worked for Eskom’s finance department where she held positions in tax, finance and general management. 

She previously worked for BP as the operations director for its UK retail business and in 2011, became the chief financial officer of BP Southern Africa. In 2017 she was appointed as BP’s CEO. 

After serving for three years, she joined Sasol and was announced as the executive vice president of Sasol in 2020. 

She is a single-parent 

Mabelane is the mother to one daughter .