Eskom CEO shortlist

Three names have emerged as candidates for the vacant chief executive position at Eskom – Ayanda Noah, Dan Marokane, and Vally Padayachee.

Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter left the power utility with immediate effect in February 2023 following an explosive interview on ENCA.

“The Eskom Board and Group Chief Executive (GCE) Andrè de Ruyter have reached a mutual agreement to curtail his notice period to 28 February 2023,” Eskom said.

“The board further resolved that De Ruyter will not be required to serve the balance of his notice period but that he will be released from his position with immediate effect.”

Soon after De Ruyter’s departure, Eskom appointed Calib Cassim as the interim group CEO until a permanent appointment was made.

Cassim was appointed Eskom’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in November 2018 after serving as acting CFO from July 2017.

Last month, Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said they have shortlisted five candidates for the position of CEO.

Eskom said it had not communicated any information about the shortlist because discretion and confidentiality were essential when hiring executives.

“We can confirm at this stage that we have concluded the interviews and will announce the successful candidate at the appropriate time,” it said in a text message. 

City Press and Rapport have revealed that Noah, Marokane, and Padayachee are in the running.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland said Noah is the most credible candidate whose name has become public.

“She is black, a woman, and an engineer with experience in Eskom at the management level, who currently reports to mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe,” he said.

Here is a quick look at the three candidates. It is currently not clear who the other two shortlisted candidates are.

Ayanda Noah

Ayanda Noah is South Africa’s Central Energy Fund chairwoman and former executive for customer services at Eskom.

Noah was reportedly retrenched from Eskom in 2018, following an overhaul of the utility’s executive structure.

She holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Cape Town, an MBA from the International Management Centre, and a Harvard Business School advanced management programme qualification.

Vally Padayachee

Vally Padayachee is chairman of the NRS Association of South Africa and a special advisor to the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities. He previously served at Eskom and Joburg’s City Power.

Padayachee has an executive development programme, MBA, MSc (Eng), diploma in datametrics and GCC (Factories) qualifications to his credit.

Dan Marokane

Dan Marokane is the CEO of Tongaat-Hulett and previously served as chief commercial and technology officer at Eskom.

He holds a chemical engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Cape Town, and an MSc in engineering from the University of London.