Dan Marokane has to do with to tackle the hardest job in South Africa: getting the lights back on. As CEO of state power energy Eskom, he takes on an organisation hindered by alleged coal theft and sabotage, which deals with technical and monetary crises.

He will be dealing with a government shareholder that has actually a. conflicted vision for the nation's future energy mix and is. having a hard time to move on a significant overhaul of its. electrical energy supply market.

As South Africa heads for national elections in May, turning. Eskom around and fixing a persistent power crunch might save. Africa's most industrialised economy from a cycle of decrease,. Eskom's board chairman told Reuters. Failure would indicate the country is stuck to the status quo of. crippling blackouts that presently cut off electrical power for. everything from homes and companies to traffic control and. health centers for as much as 10 hours every day.

There are two things here that requirement to be done. all at once, Mteto Nyati, the chairman of Eskom's board of. directors, stated in an interview.

One is to repair the existing organization. And the other is to. rearrange and reorganize Eskom so that it can be pertinent for. the future.

Nyati stated the utility's incoming boss, who holds degrees in. chemical and petroleum engineering as well as an MBA, has. the technical knowledge and management abilities to succeed where so. lots of others have actually failed.

Marokane, who Eskom said will not speak openly up until he. formally starts his period on Friday, formerly functioned as a. senior Eskom executive for five years up until 2015.

He's going to be able to find out and hit the ground running,. Nyati said.

Others are less positive.

Eskom's function in powering the country's economy has actually made the. CEO task South Africa's the majority of high-profile executive position.. its difficulties indicate fewer and less business high-flyers are. ready to take it on.

Dan is most likely the most qualified individual on the list,. stated Peter Attard Montalto, managing director of the consultancy. firm Krutham. However that is a remarkably low bar.

REVOLVING DOOR

Eskom's top job has actually become a revolving door through which. more than a lots CEOs have actually passed over the previous 15 years,. serving in either a long-term or acting capability. 2 of the previous long-term appointees were Phakamani Hadebe. and Andre de Ruyter. The previous left citing the damage the task. had actually done to his health. The latter apparently had poison slipped. into his coffee. Eskom is still recuperating from a period of pervasive corruption. that engulfed lots of South African state-owned companies under. previous President Jacob Zuma. Zuma denies misdeed.

Marokane has portrayed himself as a victim of the so-called. state capture period, having actually been suspended from his Eskom job with. a number of other executives.

I was not a moderate entertainer, he told a commission. investigating state capture in 2020. To be sitting at home with. a cloud of suspicion and poor performance on you, it's very. unpleasant, he said, based upon the transcript of his statement. before the commission.

Marokane concerns Eskom after a stint at Tongaat Hulett,. where he attempted to save the sugar business following an. accounting scandal that ultimately saw it put in bankruptcy. security. On his return to Eskom, he will take on a distressed company. reliant upon government bailouts which needs to push. through strategies to unbundle it into different generation,. transmission and circulation organizations, a process that has. end up being bogged down in bureaucracy and bureaucracy. He will face an everyday struggle to keep Eskom's fleet of aging. plants online while relieving the issues of donors that have. vowed billions of dollars to wean South Africa off coal, which. creates some 80% of its power. Marokane will require to promote new producing capability - largely. in the kind solar and wind - getting rid of resistance to sustainable. power from some quarters of an African National Congress-led. federal government.

It's an exceptionally hard job, de Ruyter, who spent 3. years as CEO before his alleged poisoning and a falling out with. the Eskom board, told Reuters.

Perhaps he should avoid having a personalised coffee mug.