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How sparks flew in Eskom boardroom
Hogan tells how Bobby Godsell and Jacob Maroga tore into each other over disputed resignation
Feb 25, 2010 11:27 PM | By SIPHO MASONDO

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Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan was forced to walk out of a meeting with then Eskom chairman Bobby Godsell following a fierce altercation between him and ousted former chief executive Jacob Maroga.

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Hogan had to ask Maroga to leave a subsequent Eskom board meeting after he insisted on presiding despite a dispute over his status as chief executive.

These are some of the revelations contained in Hogan's responding affidavit filed at the Johannesburg High Court this week.

Maroga, who was fired in November, is suing the electricity utility and demanding reinstatement or R85-million for loss of income. He has accused the Eskom board and the minister of conspiring to fire him illegally, under the veil of a voluntary resignation.

In her court papers, Hogan refutes Maroga's claims and details dramatic events at the parastatal before and after his axing. The minister argued that, even if the court found that Maroga was unfairly dismissed, he should not be reinstated as chief executive.

A day after a heated Eskom board breakaway session - during which Maroga is said to have resigned - Hogan had a meeting with Godsell to discuss the matter. But as Godsell was describing the events leading to the resignation, Maroga walked into the room and handed the minister a letter.

"He said to me he had not resigned. A heated disagreement ensued between [Godsell] and [Maroga]. At that stage, I left the two gentlemen and proceeded to meet the rest of the board members," Hogan said.

An insistent Maroga, however, followed her into the board meeting.

"He then attempted to chair the meeting, which was plainly an inappropriate action on his part, whereupon he was politely asked by me to leave the meeting room."

Hogan also revealed that Maroga's troubles at Eskom began long before her May 2009 appointment as public enterprises minister and that, soon after taking office, she and her deputy, Enoch Godongwana, attempted to resolve the chief executive's differences with his management team.

In her papers, Hogan attaches a letter written by Eskom senior managers in July in which they accuse Maroga of failing to provide leadership at the troubled parastatal. The managers were angered by his decision to hire American consultants "without following due process". They warned of "continued haemorrhaging of Eskom's finances and some of its key staff" if Maroga were not axed.

"He appears unable to even make decisions in respect of simpler measures, for example, that all local travel is economy class, and other proposed operational savings, and these cannot be implemented as the entire proposal awaits Maroga's decisions for months," the managers said.

Hogan confirmed that, at the height of the crisis brought about by Maroga's refusal to vacate his office, despite the board's claim that he had resigned, President Jacob Zuma held separate meetings with both Eskom and Maroga.

According to Hogan, after Maroga's meeting with Zuma, the axed chief executive argued that he was still in charge at Eskom.

In a subsequent letter to Hogan, contained in her court papers, Maroga said: "I remain CEO and director of Eskom. The shareholder at the highest level [Zuma] has confirmed that any action regarding my status as chief executive and director of Eskom must be requested formally and granted by the shareholder. I have affirmed that no request has been formally lodged and none has been granted. I have been told all unauthorised action taken by the board of directors since October 28 2009 are rescinded. I am at work in my office at Megawatt Park. As a director, I will fully participate in all board activities."

Hogan pointed out that, in terms of the law, she is the "representative shareholder in Eskom" by virtue of being public enterprises minister. She said she approached Zuma about the letter and that the Presidency asked lawyer Yunis Shaik, brother of convicted fraudster Schabir, to mediate.

Maroga has alleged in court papers that Shaik attempted to force him to step down and, when he refused, Shaik became abusive.

"Who the f... do you think you are that you can hold the entire country to ransom?" Shaik said, according to Maroga.

"If I did not accept the termination of my contract he would ensure I never work for the government in any capacity again," Maroga said.