Hogan slams interference in Eskom's affairs

November 12, 2009


Cape Town - Eskom on Thursday confirmed the departure of chief executive officer Jacob Maroga as Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan lashed out at those who had launched a political campaign to keep him in the post.

"Mr Maroga's resignation was clear and unambiguous and was accepted," acting Eskom board chair Mpho Makwana told staff at Megawatt Park.

Hogan told the National Assembly that Makwana would also serve as Eskom's top executive until Maroga's replacement was found, hopefully within 90 days.

She had faced intense pressure to come to Maroga's rescue from groups who had turned the dispute between him and the board, under the leadership of chairman Bobby Godsell, into a "political crusade" and a "racial football", she said.

Maroga received massive public support from the ANC Youth League, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Black Management Forum (BMF), which charged that parastatals had become "slaughterhouses" for black chief executive officers.

"We tried to pursue options of facilitation, mediation and arbitration, even a negotiated settlement. During this period, a demand arose," the minister said.

"As we were to discover, the subtext of this demand was in actual fact a demand that I, as minister, override the board and confirm a person in his position against the wishes of the board and all principles of corporate governance."

Hogan paid tribute to Godsell, who quit on Monday after meeting with President Jacob Zuma at the weekend. He cited a lack of support for the board's decision to accept Maroga's resignation.

Govt won't seize white farms, says minister

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Jun 16 2009 13:57

South Africa's new Agriculture Minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said on Tuesday the continent's biggest maize producer would not seize white farms to redistribute to black South Africans as this would harm its economy.

"With our willing-buyer, willing-seller policy there are times when the land becomes too expensive for the state to purchase, and if we face a programme of expropriation, it would further destabilise the economic industry of agriculture," she told an agribusiness conference in Cape Town.

After the fall of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress set itself a target of handing 30% of all agricultural land to the black majority by 2014.

But progress towards the target has been slow, and only about 4% of land has been acquired from private owners amid funding problems that government officials say might hinder the government from meeting its goal.

Land reform is a sensitive issue in Africa's biggest economy, where critics say the programme has hurt investment in the commercial farming sector and drastically reduced the land that is available for commercial agriculture.