Eskom has seconded Saica’s CEO Freeman Nomvalo to be its chief restructuring officer, a position that was created by Treasury to ensure that its funding of parastatals doesn’t fall down a bottomless pit.

This comes as the power utility announced a loss of almost R21 billion and yesterday appointed its chairman Jabu Mabuza as interim CEO of Eskom.

See Public Enterprises statement below:
– With respect to the announcement this afternoon at the Eskom annual results presentation by Mr Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Public Enterprises on the appointment of a Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) for Eskom, the Ministry of Public Enterprises wishes to provide clarity on the following:

·        The board of South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) agreed to a request from the Ministers of Finance and Public Enterprises to assist government with the establishment of an office for a CRO at Eskom;

·        Mr Freeman Nomvalo, the SAICA CEO, has been designated by the SAICA board to lead a team of specialists for this purpose;

·        He will remain the CEO of SAICA;

·        He will lead the efforts to establish the CRO Office and build its capability that must include the expertise: corporate finance, debt management and balance sheet optimization.

·        He will report to Ministers Finance and Public Enterprises and the Eskom board.

The immediate tasks for the CRO office will be to interrogate Eskom debt and various proposals to resolve Eskom’s burden and to engage investors with the Eskom Executive.

SAICA’s assistance will aim to reorganize the operational and funding structures of Eskom and to contribute to Eskom’s future sustainability in the interest of our country and economy.