Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - Former Eskom chief executive officer Matshela Koko said he appreciates but has declined calls from Twitter users who want him to be reinstated to save South Africa from recurring blackouts.
The hashtag Koko was one of the trending topics on Twitter from Tuesday to yesterday, as State 6 blackouts continued.
A majority of Twitter users following the hashtag called for the South African government to bring Koko back because under his leadership at Eskom, load shedding became a thing of the past.
Some of the tweeps responded to rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’s plea to Elon Musk to help his country of origin with technology that can bring load shedding to an end.
“You should be calling for the guys who did actually stop load shedding to come back. Guys such as Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe. Don’t know why you think Elon will see your tweet. By calling for Elon you are falling into the privatisation trap,” responded Ziphozonke Maswazi Mhlongo.
Thousands of tweets called for Koko's return, but Koko has flatly refused.
When contacted for comment by the Pretoria News on Wednesday, Koko said he wouldn't return to Eskom even if there was a slight possibility.
“I will not work for any state-owned enterprise again. That includes Eskom. Not after the treatment I was subjected to by the government in February 2018. This treatment was led by Cyril Ramaphosa, notwithstanding the fact that my team successfully kept the lights on and sustained planned maintenance without burning diesel for a period of three uninterrupted years," said Koko.
Koko decried Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's state capture reports that insisted the former CEO should be investigated and possibly prosecuted.
"State capture at Eskom is a ruse. CJ Zondo got it horribly wrong. The sixth administration has proven to be a disaster and it has nothing to show in the area of energy security. It has been four wasted years under Ramaphosa. I am happier working for Matshela Energy," said Koko.
In March this year, the former Eskom chief operating officer told the country that the entity was using 9 million litres of diesel per day just to keep the lights on.
Analysts have projected the diesel costs at Eskom alone to rise to R24 billion per annum due to the Russia-Ukraine war-related price hikes.
Pretoria News