Malegapuru Makgoba – Photo: Radio702 / Twitter
Malegapuru Makgoba – Photo: Radio702 / Twitter
Malegapuru Makgoba, the chairperson of Eskom, has been slammed by serving MPs who were called to a Parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday. The meeting, which aimed to probe alleged irregularities regarding COO Jan Oberholzer, was postponed after Makgoba texted in to explain why he would be absent.
#Eskom Mkhuleko Hlengwa says the only communication received from Eskom board chairperson was a text message this morning.
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) August 26, 2020
WhatsApp with Makgoba? Eskom chair dodges Parliament
With little over an hour before proceedings were meant to start, the chair stated that he was tied up in another meeting, and therefore, could not show-up at the inquiry. Benedicta Van Minnen is the DA’s Member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) – the MP slammed Eskom’s representative for his ‘lax attitude’:
“90 Minutes before the meeting was meant to commence, the Eskom board Chairperson, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba sent a WhatsApp message to the Chairperson of SCOPA informing him that he was unavailable due to another meeting which clashed with the scheduled SCOPA meeting.”
“This resulted in the SCOPA meeting being postponed to next week so that the briefing can take place with the presence of the Eskom Chairperson. Makgoba’s lax attitude is disconcerting in an environment that sees further load shedding, which has the effect of slowing economic growth when the country most needs it.”
Benedicta Van Minnen
It’s a real SM-mess: SCOPA meeting ends in farce
ANC MP Bheki Hadebe also launched into a tirade against Makgoba, and drew titters of laughter from those looking on. Hadebe chastised the chairperson for treating Parliament ‘like a girlfriend or boyfriend. The hasty postponement means that the SCOPA inquiry will now restart on Monday… barring any rogue WhatsApp messages.
“In terms of good corporate governance and ethical leadership, such tendencies are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. We can’t be reduced to an SMS as if they are communicating to girlfriends or boyfriends at the eleventh hour when they schedule a date and something else happens and they cannot come.”
Bheki Hadebe
