Eskom is at the forefront of becoming the leader in gender equity with the simultaneous promotion of 39 women to senior management during the month of March 2017.

This was echoed by Interim Group Chief Executive, Matshela Koko, when he welcomed the promotion of these women across various business units within Eskom. “This promotion has been the culmination of the amazing hard work by the executive team, led by our Human Resources executive Ms Elsie Pule and with guidance from our shareholder Ministry under the Honourable Ms Lynne Brown. With a fine-toothed comb, over an extended period of time, we have traversed the business to identify talent who will be the future leadership of this company,” said Koko.

These dynamic individuals have now been entrusted with real business-impacting roles within the business. “This is certainly not tokenism. Woman empowerment has suffered endless rhetoric, with little to no real traction. And we have taken a deliberate position to ensure real and futuristic equity,” he said.

Koko said that 62% (24 of the 39 appointments) are technical specialists in various key components of the business: “They have been placed in the following business units: technology, transmission, legal, human resources, customer service, generation, sustainability, finance group information technology, group capital and distribution.”

He stated that Eskom has earmarked them for various targeted support programmes to ensure that they exceed all the expectations imposed by their challenging roles. “Part of the Employment Equity strategy requires that as an organisation, we don’t only chase gender equalisation, but also ensure that the appointed candidates are fully supported and enabled through the identification of targeted development programmes,” Koko said.

The initiative is tied to Oliver Tambo’s legacy, as alluded to by President Jacob Zuma in his 2017 State of the Nation Address. “In the same spirit, we are prioritising the apartheid wage gap, female equity and black industrialist programme,” added Koko.

This unprecedented equity injection gives us a surge from 29% to 36%, at senior management level, to end of March 2017. “Our stated female equity for 2020, which was also confirmed by the President Jacob Zuma, when he addressed Eskom employees last year, is 50% at all levels. We are sufficiently galvanised to meet this target.”

Koko emphasised the “unrivalled role” Eskom plays in the wellbeing of South Africa, both in its core role of being a socio-economic enabler through provision of electricity and in restoring dignity amongst the previously marginalized citizens. “Our next critical phase is eradicating the apartheid wage gap. And we have made a firm commitment to our organised labour partners and our employees to address this outstanding matter over a period of three years. We are not proud that certain employees remains trapped in the apartheid wage dispensation, a number of years into the dawn of our democracy,” concluded Koko.

Issued by Eskom