Eskom ranks third in Ernst & Young’s: Excellence in Sustainability Reporting Awards 2010

Eskom was named one of the top five companies in the Ernst & Young’s Excellence in Sustainability Reporting Awards 2010. Eskom came in third place, after the Bidvest Group (1) and Sasol (2), as one of the companies that give progressively higher levels of meaningful disclosures in their concept of sustainability reporting.

Photo: Lindie Engelbrecht (Director for Climate Change and
Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young), Dave Lucas
(Corporate Specialist Environmental Management – Eskom)
and Professor Ben Marx (Adjudicator – University of
Johannesburg)

Lindie Engelbrecht, Director for Climate Change and Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young, said that it was good to see companies in other industries, apart from resources, are taking sustainability reporting seriously. “It is particularly gratifying to note that we have a parastatal in the top five rankings. In the sustainability report Eskom was able to show a real understanding of sustainability aspects and how these impact on the business: there was excellent stakeholder engagement and good use of the GRI linkages and website reporting. Eskom was also one of the few public sector companies that obtained assurance over the sustainability report.”

Eskom was also a category winner for best sustainable reporting in the Chartered Secretaries’ Annual Report Awards.

Eskom wins Top500: South Africa’s Best Managed Companies Award in the Parastatal category

Eskom was announced the winner of the Top500: South Africa’s Best Managed Companies in the parastatal category. The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 at the Wanderers Club.

The awards bring together the sector winners from 100 leading business sectors to celebrate the best of the best in South African Business. The awards were then judged according to strict criteria for all 14 categories where one company within each category emerged as the leader.

“Business success is about creativity, seizing opportunities and being one step ahead of your competitors. All winners represent companies that are smart enough to have the right to be called a Top500 company that truly signifies your status” said Richard Fletcher, publisher of Top500: South Africa’s Best Managed Companies.

Eskom remains No 1 Most Ideal Employer in Engineering – 2010 Magnet Communication Awards

Eskom has, once again, been voted the No 1 Most Ideal Employer in Engineering by South African third year students. Bongi Ntuli, Student Development Manager, accepted the award on behalf of Eskom at the Magnet Communication Award Ceremony which was held at Sandton, on Thursday, 2 December 2010.

More than 38 000 students took part in the annual Magnet Communications Student Survey in 2010. Once again, Eskom has held onto the position of the most desirable company to work for in South Africa, according to engineering students nationwide. Eskom, with a holistic approach of developing engineering skills, has again proved popular among the younger generation. The organisation has achieved this through its programmes that encourage female learners to study mathematics and science and those that develop female engineers within the organisation. Eskom is followed by Sasol in second place with mining giant Anglo Platinum being in third place, as ranked by engineering students at all 23 universities in South Africa.

The preferred employers in each sector:

Engineering:

1. Eskom

2. Sasol

3. Anglo Platinum

Business/Commerce:

1. KPMG

2. Absa

3. South African Reserve Bank (SARB)

Humanities/Liberal Arts/Law:

1. Department of Education

2. SABC

3. United Nations

Health Care/Health Sciences/Sciences:

1. Department of Health

2. CSIR

3. National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)

The Magnet Communication Student Survey is independent and the company listing of 130 companies is generated by the students themselves. As companies continue to compete for scarce skills and develop recruitment strategies to appeal to fresh graduates, the survey gives employers an indication of the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies and the values which will also retain talent.

EPRI Generation 2010 Technology Transfer Award

EPRI annually recognises generation industry professionals who have led technology transfer efforts on behalf of their companies and the industry at large. This commitment to technical excellence and collaboration demonstrated is what enables the generation industry to drive continuous performance improvement.

After a rigorous review process, 12 Technology Transfer awards were selected, recognising 35 recipients across 10 member companies worldwide. Michael Barry, Callie Fabricius and Chris Gross were selected for the 2010 EPRI Generation Technology Transfer Award, given annually to EPRI members who have led technology transfer efforts on behalf of their companies and the industry at large.

Eskom used the Technical Assessment Guide (TAG) as a key reference document as input into the South Africa Integrated Resource Plan. With greater emphasis on renewable energy, it is essential to be able to develop a robust strategic plan for future generation technology built on an objective and high-quality knowledge base that will stand up to scrutiny.

International Renowned 2010 Claude De Tourreil Memorial Award Lifetime Achievement

Dr Wallace Vosloo from Sustainability and Innovation – Power System and Engineering (Insulator section) received the internationally renowned 2010 Claude de Tourreil Memorial Award Lifetime Achievement in the field of Electrical Insulators.

This award is given by INMR, the world’s leading technical journal in the field of electrical insulators, surge arresters, bushings and related components.

Dr Vosloo has attended international conferences and has put his name to over 100 papers on topics related directly to the field of highvoltage insulators. He has co-authored two books and participated in the development of various products to assist insulator research and investigation. His latest development – an insulator pollution monitoring relay – has been patented and he has also supported research in an improved multi-spectrum camera for insulator diagnosis. His work in the pollution performance of insulators at the Koeberg Insulator Pollution Test Station (KIPTS) has become world famous.