Stakeholder engagement
We define our stakeholders as any group or individual
who can affect or is affected by the achievement or nonachievement
of Eskom’s business objectives. Stakeholders
are all important to Eskom and we need to communicate
with and engage our stakeholders in an effective and
transparent manner. Our stakeholders include: employees;
our shareholder; national, provincial and local government;
parliament; customers; financial institutions; lenders; rating
agencies; suppliers and contractors; regulatory authorities;
professional institutions or bodies; organised business and
labour; industry, media and civil society organisations.
Eskom’s primary stakeholder management objectives are:
- to identify, prioritise and build relationships with
stakeholders at national, provincial, regional and local
level
- to inform stakeholders of Eskom’s strategic priorities
- to build the trust with internal and external stakeholders
through strategic action-driven stakeholder
engagement that is relevant to the business
Eskom uses various techniques to identify its stakeholders. The
following are some of them:
- issues serve as a guide to identifying the stakeholders with
whom we need to engage. An “issue” can be defined most
simply as: “the gap between what a stakeholder expects of an
organisation and the organisation’s corporate practice”
- we further align the six priorities of the organisation to the
stakeholders that must be consulted
The categorisation of stakeholders aids in facilitating the allocation
of responsibilities, accountabilities as well as resources for dealing
with the various stakeholder categories.
We have a stakeholder management and engagement strategy
that ensures a pro-active stakeholder engagement process. Firstly,
we analyse the issue, map it with the relevant stakeholders and
then engage with those stakeholders.
Sustainability, occupational health, safety and environmental
management
The chief executive, as chief safety officer and chairman of Exco’s
sustainability and safety subcommittee, is accountable for overall
sustainability and safety performance.
The sustainability and safety subcommittee guides our strategy
and sets performance targets on sustainability, occupational
health and safety and environmental matters, in line with
Eskom’s safety, health and environmental policy, the National
Environmental Management Act (107 of 1998), as amended,
and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, (85 of 1993),
as amended. Strategies are reviewed and approved by the
sustainability committee of the board.
Exco’s operations subcommittee assesses occupational health,
safety and environmental performance and reviews major
incidents to ensure that corrective action is taken.
Nuclear safety
The nuclear safety assurance function is kept independent from
the electricity production function by dividing Eskom’s nuclear
infrastructure into two. The nuclear business area is directly
accountable to the chief officer (generation) for all aspects of
electricity production at Koeberg power station, including safety.
The nuclear safety and assurance section, a separate department
in the Generation division with its own technical experts and
resources, provides independent assurance on nuclear safety and
compliance with licence requirements.
In line with international best practice, Eskom has a three-tier
system of nuclear safety governance. The sustainability committee
of the board (the top tier) dedicates several meetings a year to
nuclear matters. The meetings are attended by international nuclear
experts who bring a broad perspective to the deliberations. The
middle tier, the nuclear management committee, presided over
by the managing director of the Generation division, monitors,
reviews and makes recommendations on issues such as nuclear
policy, standards, benchmarks and rules and Eskom’s overall
business requirements. The third tier, the safety review group,
brings together experts from various parts of Eskom to evaluate
nuclear safety issues and make recommendations to senior
management and other tiers.
Corporate citizenship
The objective of government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth
Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) is to promote economic
growth and halve poverty and unemployment by 2014. Eskom’s
contribution to accelerated and shared growth is centrally coordinated
and facilitated through the office of the chief executive.
Eskom’s most significant contribution to Asgisa is through its core
business of supplying reliable electricity. Eskom also leverages
associated activities, including its corporate social investment
(CSI) programmes, for the development of the disadvantaged.
Eskom CSI contributes to the development of the disadvantaged
and promotes skills development, job creation, education
and health. Many CSI initiatives are executed by the Eskom
Development Foundation.
Subsidiaries
Eskom Enterprises (Pty) Limited, an Eskom subsidiary that
focuses on its non-regulated activities, has subsidiaries in
South Africa, Mali, Zambia, Uganda and, until March 2008,
Lesotho. All of the Eskom Enterprises group companies are
governed by independent board structures with their own
internal control. Eskom Enterprises and its wholly owned
subsidiaries are subject to Eskom group policies, governance
and financial control. The directors are accountable to Eskom
as shareholder through the shareholder compact.
Eskom’s other wholly owned subsidiaries – Eskom Finance
Company (Pty) Limited, Eskom Development Foundation, Escap
Limited and Gallium Insurance Company Limited are governed
by independent boards. The directors are accountable to Eskom
through the shareholder compact.
The subsidiaries comply with the PFMA and Companies Act, or
their equivalent legislation where they are foreign- registered, and
follow good governance principles.
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