Former Eskom CEO Brian Dames
Photo by: Duane Daws
Former Eskom chief executive Brian Dames told Parliament’s State capture inquiry on Wednesday that while the process is a great move, it was too late.
“You are too late,” he said. “You should have done this a long time ago.”
Dames said they should have been a lot more concerned when he left Eskom in 2014. He said when the exodus of senior executives left after his departure; they should have been a lot more concerned.
He said governance did not just work on structures; it has to do with leadership. "This is hugely important in companies and sets culture,” he said.
“I was fortunate to have a strong team at different levels. After the load shedding (in 2008), we asked what they (Eskom’s employees) wanted. They told us to deal with their personal safety, stop load shedding and restore our confidence in the leadership of the company.”
He said the recent changes at Eskom were shocking. Dames had a 27 year career at Eskom, where he started his career as a nuclear physicist at Koeberg nuclear power plant and worked his way from heading up coal power stations to becoming chief executive.
“I was a member of the executive from 2004,” he said. “In the middle of load shedding in 2008, I was approached to become chief operating officer. I was tasked to stop the load shedding, and that we did. It stopped in April 2008. Just before the World Cup in 2010, I was asked to be CEO. I left in March 2014.”