Power utility Eskom has appointed ICT veteran Len de Villiers as its chief information and technology officer.
Yesterday, Eskom group chief executive Dan Marokane announced the first four of seven new executive appointments “to further address the current business challenges and future-proof the organisation through the delivery of strategic initiatives to enable growth and long-term sustainability”.
The power utility says it is aligning its executive execution capability and capacity to focus its skilled people in the best structure, where they can deliver value the fastest.
Eskom says De Villiers, formerly chief information officer of Telkom, has over 40 years of experience in the information technology industry and is considered one of the top chief information officers in South Africa.
The power utility notes he has extensive experience in the financial services industry and complex technology change projects, and is expected to assist the business in embracing the pace of digitalisation, the use of artificial intelligence and increased levels in areas of cyber security.
Faith Burn will serve as CIO of Eskom and will report to De Villiers.
“Eskom recognised that it needed to bring in some new skills at the executive level to guide its teams in the business, so it can execute strategic initiatives in a competitive market faster, more efficiently, and in areas which are new to the utility,” says Marokane.
“In just five months, we have closed critical positions at Eskom. I have been impressed with the volume and calibre of applicants who were willing to be associated with our brand. Our new executives had a choice of who they could work for. They chose Eskom.
“We must now more than ever remain focused on delivery and changing the way we do things, not how we are structured, to the benefit of our customers who will increasingly have a choice of energy provider as the market reforms take place. It is our intention to remain a critical player in South Africa’s evolving future energy market, and we will move at pace to recover lost ground.”
The firm also appointed Portia Mngomezulu as group executive of corporate services, Nontokozo Hadebe as group executive of strategy and sustainability, as well as Roman Crookes as group executive of group capital.
Share