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Following two weeks of leadership uncertainty, the board at power utility Eskom finally confirmed on Thursday that the resignation offer made by CEO Jacob Maroga during the board meeting of October 28 had been "clear and unambiguous", despite his persistent assertions since then that he had never offered to quit.
Acting chairperson Mpho Makwana, who was appointed after the group's former chairperson, Bobby Godsell, decided to resign on Monday, made the announcement at a media briefing, held at Megawatt Park, north of Johannesburg.
It was the now prerogative of the shareholder to approach Godsell to assess whether he would reconsider his resignation.
When contacted by Engineering News Online, Godsell said he could not comment whether he had been approached to return as chairperson, nor whether he would consider such a return.
Meanwhile, Makwana insisted that the Eskom board, as well as its decision on the Maroga matter, had the support of the shareholder and the responsible Minister, Barbara Hogan.
HELL YES, YOU MUST GOVERN
Hogan was not present at the announcement, but in an address to Parliament, she expressed her support for the board and its actions. She also stressed that, despite considerable pressure, she refused to override the principles of good corporate governance and impose a CEO on the board, without authority in law.
"Let me say upfront, that this government is completely committed to abiding by the principles of proper corporate governance in all of our relationships with the [State-owned enterprises] SoE," she averred, adding that the integrity of the board wasparamount.
It was not immediately clear what had changed between Monday and Thursday to firm up government's support for the board, given that Godsell highlighted a lack of shareholder support as the main reason for his departure.
But Hogan was unequivocal, saying that "if there are any concerns about governance of parastatals in the country, let me assure everyone in the House that this Ministry and the boards of SoE have the full authority to govern their companies without unlawful or inappropriate interference – wesay to them: 'hell yes, you must govern'."
Maroga's offer to resign was "accepted", Makwana told journalists, adding that the resignation "brings uncertainty which requires urgent normalisation".
The resignation was made verbally and had not been put in writing. But the board accepted the offer nevertheless.
That said, Makwana acknowledged that Maroga had the recourse to the "rule of law" in South Africa should he continue to dispute the fact that he resigned. A meeting took place between Maroga and Makwana on Wednesday, between 11:00 and 16:30, to further clarify Maroga's stance, but the board had remained united on the point of Maroga's resignation and "we now have to move on with life".
He said the matter took a full two weeks to reach the current stage, as "all efforts were made to conclude this matter amicably", but that Maroga "frustrated" these efforts at "every step".
"Therefore, we thought, yesterday, that all that could be done had been done and it was time now to act, and move on."
NO GOLDEN HANDSHAKE
Makwana insisted, too, that from the board's perspective, there would be no "golden handshake", as Maroga would leave the organisation in the same manner as any other employee would if he or she resigned.
Makwana, who had been appointed chairperson at a special general meeting of the shareholder and the board, held on November 9, would now also oversee operational matters with the assistance of the executive committee. In other words, he would act as an executive chairperson, until a CEO was appointed.
An executive search had been initiated to find a replacement for Maroga and that Makwana was hopeful that a candidate would be identified within the next 90 days. However, he indicated that he could be in the dual position for up to six months, adding that he would use the time to focus would be on healing the organisation, while keeping the lights on.
Key operational responsibilities would rest with the group's two chief officers, Brian Dames and Erica Johnson, who had been helping to ensure that the business had been operating normally during the recent leadership crisis. The group's top 60 managers had also met this week to focus on the finalisation of the group's controversial application for tariff increases of 45% a year for the next three years.
HOW EVENTS EVOLVED
The board held that Maroga had offered to resign on Wednesday, October 28, after Godsell's vision for the organisation was adopted over a strategy proposed by the CEO.
However, Maroga immediately disputed the suggestion that he had tendered his resignation, leading to a series of meetings involving the board, Hogan, and, reportedly with President Jacob Zuma.
By November 9, the dispute was still raging, with Maroga returning to work and Godsell tendering his own resignation.
The former gold-mining man said that he had decided to resign when government, Eskom's sole shareholder, was unable either to support the board's original decision to accept the resignation of Maroga, or its "two attempts at resolving this dispute".
The board reportedly offered to submit the dispute over whether Maroga had indeed resigned to "binding private arbitration". However, Godsell said that Maroga had not responded to this offer.
It then emerged that Maroga had been barred by Makwana from returning to his office until the matter had been settled, which it eventually was on Thursday, November 12, when the public announcement was made.
Makwana said on Thursday that the shareholder supported the board and its view that Maroga had resigned.
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