In 2015, Zethembe Khoza was mere months into his role as an Eskom board member when problems at the power utility prompted an inquiry and the suspension of four top executives.
Khoza, who gave evidence before the Zondo commission on Wednesday, said former public enterprises minister Lynne Brown met with the board on 11 March 2015 and requested an investigation to uncover and help resolve some of the issues at Eskom.
“She raised concerns over operations at Eskom. Load shedding was affecting the country, the economy and the people of South Africa,” said Khoza. Alongside procurement problems, Brown also seemed worried about Eskom’s finances after receiving an email that the utility could not pay salaries at the end of March.