The head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO), Karen Breytenbach, has been asked to vacate her position.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC), which comprises the Department of Energy (DOE), National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, announced its decision to ask Breytenbach to leave following issues of instability.
“The Department of Energy, as the chair of the JIC, requested a meeting to address issues that were creating operational instability at the IPP office. These matters had a negative impact on the IPP office and if unresolved as a matter of urgency, had potential to destabilise operations and affect personnel negatively,” the JIC said.
The JIC said it had unanimously agreed that the environment at the IPPO was unstable and sought to take action.
“This decision is taken approximately five months after the expiry of the contract of the head of the IPP office. Since the expiry of the contract, it has become clear to the department that it is not possible to resolve the appointment of the head of the IPP office under the current circumstances,” said the Department of Energy.
This JIC meeting was preceded by numerous attempts by the department to find a resolution to the matter. However, these had proven not to be successful.
“The department is committed to creating stability at the IPP office and to support the transitioning of the office into an institution established through legislation. We envisage to have a newly established institution that will have its own governance structure, in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and other applicable legislation to institutions of a similar nature,” said the DOE.
It said the IPPO continues to play an important role in providing process certainty for private funding to enter the power generation market, hence it is important that the decision to stabilise operations and to strengthen governance is communicated effectively. – SAnews.gov.za
