Ras Myburgh
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Myburgh quits Kumba, joins Eskom
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Wed, 28 May 2008

[miningmx.com] -- RAS Myburgh, CEO of South Africa's largest iron ore producer and Anglo American subsidiary Kumba, has resigned his position to join embattled power utility Eskom from the start of July.

Myburgh is replaced by Chris Griffith, who is currently the head of joint venture operations within Anglo Platinum.

"I believe that my previous experience in the Eskom Generation Division, together with my mining experience, will enable me to make a contribution alongside coal suppliers in working to secure the current and future power needs of South Africa," Myburgh said in a statement.

Eskom is one of the leading reasons for South Africa's economic growth in the first quarter of 2008 to shrink by more than half to a six-year low of 2.1% against 5.3% in the previous quarter. The hardest hit sector was mining, which contracted by 22% after a week-long shutdown in January when Eskom declared force majeure.

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One of the main reasons for Eskom's poor performance has been its depleted stockpiles combined with unplanned shutdowns.

Eskom has been re-building stockpiles and has 17 days worth of coal at its generating plants. It wants to have at least 20 days worth of supplies.

It has been buying coal on costly short-term contracts and has sourced a quarter of its coal needs on that basis as the country heads into winter, traditionally a period of high electricity usage.

Myburgh has been sent from the Ango subsidiary to Eskom on secondment where he will be responsible for advising it on its long-term coal sourcing strategy and its implementation for all of Eskom's power stations.