Now Eskom’s Treasurer Has Quit

Andre Pillay’s resignation marks the exit of another senior executive as the utility struggles with a financial and operational crisis

Eskom group treasurer Andre Pillay resigned and will leave the embattled state power utility at the end of August, it announced on Monday.

Pillay’s resignation marks yet another exit of a senior executive as the utility struggles with a financial and operational crisis. Eskom group CEO Phakamani Hadebe said he will leave his post at the end of July due to health concerns related to the high-stress job.

In a statement, Eskom thanked Pillay for his dedication and contribution towards managing Eskom’s liquidity through some of the most challenging times. No reasons were provided for his departure.

Pillay leaves after eight years at Eskom. He first came into the organisation in 2011 as a senior manager at Eskom treasury and in 2016 he was promoted to group treasurer, where he enabled the execution of Eskom’s funding programme.

“We are cognisant of how critical the group treasurer role is for Eskom and have requested that Andre remain in the position for the next two months to ensure a seamless transition and business continuity through the handover process,” Eskom CFO Calib Cassim said in a statement.

“Andre’s replacement will be announced in due course. We believe that treasury operations will continue with ease with the support of the current treasury leadership”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said during his state of the nation address (Sona) in June that Eskom would receive a portion of the R230bn in support from the government, which was promised at the time of the budget sooner than had been expected. This is to alleviate its financial crisis and enable it to finalise its annual financial statements. Without additional support it is not a going concern.

In February, at his previous address, he had boldly announced that Eskom would be split into three parts: generation (which is made up of the power stations); transmission (which is the national grid); and distribution (which are the poles and wires).

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