South Africa’s protracted search for Eskom’s new chief executive officer will end by December, according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. Eskom has been without a full-time head for more than seven months despite an ongoing energy crisis, while freight company Transnet SOC’s CEO said she will leave at the end of October. Finding the new chief for Transnet will take longer, Gordhan said.
Incessant power outages implemented by Eskom and Transnet’s inability to run rail operations at capacity has stymied exports, roiling the $406 billion economy. The beleaguered power utility said it had reviewed 147 “high-caliber” candidates in its global search for a CEO, but the process had failed to “yield a clear-cut set of candidates” as required by the company’s memorandum of incorporation. The board then “emerged with a single appointable candidate.