Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan

Eskom's near-term prospects have been hit by the delay in appointing a permanent replacement for former chief executive André de Ruyter although Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan claims one will be chosen by December (AC Vol 64 No 5 Energy plan riles ANC factions and vested interests)...

According to an insider Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan's decision to reject the Eskom board's recommendation for a new CEO was because Mantashe would not support its choice...

He is pushing boundaries publicly criticising Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and cabinet ministers...

We hear he now faces push-back from figures such as Pravin Gordhan and the powerful Gwede Mantashe who are protecting their departments (AC Vol 64 No 5 Energy plan riles ANC factions and vested interests)...

That looks like wishful thinking as powers previously wielded by Mantashe's department and Pravin Gordhan's Public Enterprises Department are due to be transferred to the new electricity department which will operate in the presidency under Ramaphosa's control...

Ramaphosa's close allies Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan held on to their portfolios as did Police Minister Bheki Cele despite his serial failures to control the wave of organised crime that is sweeping the country undermining the economy and breaking up infrastructure...

De Ruyter did not name the cabinet minister or official but Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan this week said that the former Eskom CEO had spoken to him about criminality at the utility...

Yet Pravin Gordhan minister of public enterprises looks set to continue as the shareholder representative of Eskom and steer its restructuring into three separate entities for generation distribution and transmission...

Cabinet ministers such as public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel and foreign minister Naledi Pandor are all old Ramaphosa allies but they were not elected on to the NEC so have limited clout in the party...

Mantashe is expected to take over responsibility for Eskom from Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan (Dispatches 23/12/22 Ramaphosa's win in ANC elections opens a door to policy shifts and reshuffles) after Ramaphosa splits the mineral resources and energy portfolio into two...

On 19 January another coalition of political parties (Mmusi Maimane's Build One SA the IFP and UDM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) launched a civil action led by Mabuza Attorneys against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan demanding there should be no power-cuts without 'procedural fairness' and suspending plans for tariff hikes...