Considering that South Africa’s debt-stricken and loss-making state power utility poses the biggest risk to the economy, appointing a permanent chief executive officer to turn it around is widely seen as a top priority for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration. Yet while the government pledged to name a new head of Eskom Holdings by the end of October, it’s missed repeated deadlines to act, evidence of how politically fraught the process has been. Jabu Mabuza, the utility’s chairman, has filled the post in an interim capacity since Phakamani Hadebe quit in July.
