THE INSTITUTE of Directors (IoDSA) yesterday clarified the role of a board member in the wake of the spat between Business Leadership SA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso and Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).
Eskom board member Busi Mavuso, who is the chief executive of Business Leadership South Africa, is adamant she is doing her ethical duty as a board member.
This after Mavuso defended her actions at Scopa on Friday acting as an Eskom board member after she said the ANC-led government had created the mess that Eskom was in and subsequently then was asked by Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa to leave the meeting.
Yesterday, the IoDSA, whose CEO Parmi Natesan is on leave, in answer to questions on Mavuso and board members, would not be drawn into the finer details of the dispute, but said a board member irrespective of whether serving in the private or public sector had the duty to act in the best interests of the organisation and with the proper skill, care and diligence expected of a reasonable board member.
IoDSA said, “In this situation, the Eskom Board would thus be held accountable to answer for its decisions and actions during its tenure. It is, however, only fair that such individuals are held to account for their own actions while in office; and not for the actions/decisions of those who may have preceded them. They, however, can be held accountable for correcting the actions of previous boards over a reasonable timeline.”
A board member should always be transparent and honest in their disclosures to the board, other reporting committee and/or the public, and should be willing to answer for the execution of their responsibilities.
IoDSA in February in the wake of the Zondo reports into state capture urged the president to provide the courageous leadership the circumstances demand and set a new course, in which board and senior executive appointments will be guided by objective processes and criteria based on competence and an ethical commitment to the organisation’s best interests.
This after rife corruption and political meddling at state-owned enterprises.
In an interview with 702’s Bongani Bingwa yesterday morning Mavuso explained that as the Eskom board representative at Scopa, she was required to answer questions about what the power utility was tasked to do.
The Scopa committee had been unhappy with what they found at the oversight visit to Eskom’s Medupi power station in Lephalale.
She said yesterday, “Eskom’s board is responsible for the decision made during their tenure, but unfortunately there are things the current board cannot answer to because they pre-date the current board.”
She said there was no way to answer the question to the board of Medupi and Kusile, without referring to the history.
“I answered a question that was put to the board ... If you want SOEs to be filled with people who will behave and who will be pliable and puppets to Parliament, then we must say so and make those appointments, accordingly ” Mavuso said.
Mavuso said she did not sit on the Eskom board as an “ANC deployee as the chair (Hlengwa) puts it”.
“It is this thinking that is problematic. When we sit on these boards we sit there as independent professionals charged with providing an independent view of the running of the entity and responsible to act in the interest of that company,” she said.
Hlengwa said the buck stopped with the board, saying Kusile’s deadline had been changed by the board.
He wanted to know why the board was moving the timeline. Eskom was not delivering on its mandate. “Who else do you ask? The questions go the board and executives.”
However, he said Mavuso had raised the right issue in the wrong place.
Hlengwa said he wanted Mavuso, as a board member, to answer the questions at hand. “She refused point blank to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eskom yesterday confirmed “constructive and robust engagements” with Scopa during its follow-up to an oversight visit to some of Eskom’s facilities undertaken last month.
During their visit to Medupi, Kusile power stations and Megawatt Park, Scopa had called on Eskom to account for progress and expenditure on the new build program and exhorted management to redouble its efforts to minimize load-shedding. “Eskom appreciates and understands the committee’s input as a continuation of its role to safeguard the public purse and assets,” a statement from the utility said.
“Eskom was provided an opportunity to give visibility to the trade-offs we make in our daily operations, while navigating between fiscal, environmental, industrial and energy security and poverty alleviation imperatives.”
Eskom said also that Scopa had undertaken to engage key arms of government such as law enforcement and municipalities to assist the utility in operating effectively, combat entrenched networks of corruption and to maintain the utility’s liquidity.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE