If there were a Survivor competition for company directors, a few months ago you’d have fancied the chances of Venete Klein. She was, after all, the only Eskom director – of 14 – to retain her seat when new cabinet member Lynne Brown replaced the board after being given the public enterprises portfolio in 2014. Klein also survived the latest purge when five of those freshly appointed Eskom directors (mostly Gupta linked) were ejected.
But things haven’t been going as well lately for the former financial manager of JD Group. In February, she was one of four ACSA directors dismissed shortly after the scuttling of a Gupta-instigated attempt to get rid of CEO Bongani Maseko. And she’s not the only Eskom director finding her links to the Zuma Administration counting against her.
Although the IoD’s spokesperson maintains Klein left of her own volition (see below), insiders reckon last week Venete Klein was apparently strong-armed into resigning her prestigious position as chairman of the Institute of Directors (IoD). My sources say her IoD colleagues were unimpressed with Eskom director Klein’s role in the latest board debacle and urged her to distance herself. When she refused, they demanded she step down.
The swing in the fortunes of the two Eskom directors reflects something bigger. The replacement of the SABC board, where four of the five new directors are anti-Zupta, has been rapidly followed by last week’s suspension of the FD, acting CEO James Aguma. More heads are sure to roll at SA’s public enterprises after the Gupta State Capture plan, and their partners in the exercise, were exposed through two in-depth reports and, over the weekend, explosive emails published by the Sunday Times and City Press.
The tide has turned. The South African public is being treated to a full frontal view of those who have been swimming naked, especially those who have been doing so with the Guptas. Hope springs.
RESPONSE:
Dear Alec
Ms Klein was neither strong-armed, nor did she refuse stepping down as IoDSA chairman. It was in fact Ms Klein herself that offered her resignation.
It would be much appreciated if the necessary edits could be made and published.
Kind regards,
Juanita Vorster
Chartered Public Relations Practitioner (CPRP)
