Cape Town – Embattled Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga was not solely responsible for the power utility’s problems, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan said yesterday.

Replying to questions in the National Assembly, she said it was unfair to blame only Maroga.

It had been reported earlier that President Jacob Zuma had intervened to prevent Maroga being sacked by the Eskom board. As a consequence, the board had been embroiled in a fierce dispute with government, led by Hogan and her deputy, Enoch Godongwana.

“Meanwhile, Eskom is apparently leaderless and the electricity giant’s lips are sealed. Official spokespersons have for days been embarrassed by requests for information, and unable to provide answers,” a media website reported.

Hogan’s spokesman had also declined to comment on the issue, as had the presidency.

The report said the main reason for the board’s dissatisfaction with Maroga was ostensibly his handling of a report by American energy consultant Susan Olsen. In July 2007 – six months before the electricity crisis – Olsen warned Maroga in a comprehensive report that Eskom’s coal division “would collapse under its own weight” unless serious steps were taken.

DA spokesman Cobus Schmidt said later yesterday that Zuma had “absolutely no business telling the Eskom board they cannot fire Jacob Maroga”.

“Mr Maroga’s tenure has been marred by all number of problems, and it is clear that the Eskom board has lost faith in him. For there to be political interference at this stage is simply untenable.” Schmidt said Maroga should be dismissed for several reasons, including his decision to fire Olsen after she warned him in a confidential memo that Eskom’s coal procurement practices were placing electricity supplies in jeopardy. Maroga appeared to do little to act on her advice, and South Africa endured a period of load-shedding which cost the country about R2-billion a day, Schmidt said. – Sapa