Dan Marokane
Rainmakers & Potstirrers

Dan Marokane

CEO: Eskom

www.eskom.co.za

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‘The issue of grid connectivity emanates from the many years of capital starvation within Eskom. This is a big price we pay as a country’

IT is Dan Marokane’s second stint at the helm of Eskom. He returned in March 2024 following a 10-month-long search for a suitable – and willing – candidate to take over from André de Ruyter. Eskom is in dire need of a rainmaker: South Africa’s struggling power utility closed out 2024 on a downbeat note, revealing that its losses had more than doubled in the 2023/24 financial year. These losses were anticipated largely because of the spinoff of its transition business. 

But 2024 is also regarded as the year in which Eskom turned a corner: generation capacity increased tremendously with nine straight months of no power interruptions. Frequent blackouts have cost the South African economy close to R1bn a day, according to previous estimates. Thanks to the much-improved power supply, Eskom has gradually managed to improve its maintenance and thus increase generation capacity. 

The power utility also received a credit ratings upgrade at the end of last year when S&P Global Ratings changed its foreign and local currency ratings from stable to positive. But the road to recovery is steep – Eskom faces mounting municipal debt from municipalities, which has the potential to derail the state-owned entity’s recovery efforts. A recent report by an advisory firm also warns of the potential return of load-shedding in 2025, albeit at lower levels than previously. Marokane, who has the support of the Cabinet, seems the best candidate at the moment to keep the lights on.

LIFE OF DAN

Marokane is a qualified chemical engineer with a master’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of London and a master’s in business administration from the University of Cape Town. His first stint at Eskom was from January 2010 to June 2015, when he was replaced by an executive aligned with the Gupta family. In 2018 he joined Tongaat Hulett’s sugar division. In November 2019, Marokane was appointed to Tongaat’s board, following a probe by auditing firm PwC, and in February 2023 he became acting CEO.

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