South Africa's Eskom chairman faces vote of confidence by utility's board

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The chairman of South African power firm Eskom said he faced a vote of confidence by the utility's board late on Monday, after being accused of acting improperly by suspending the chief executive. State-owned Eskom [ESCJ.UL] has implemented regular power cuts this year to prevent the national grid from being overwhelmed as Africa's most advanced economy faces its worst energy crisis since 2008. The firm's CEO and three other senior executives were temporarily suspended earlier this month while an inquiry on the operations of the firm were being conducted. Standard and Poor's cut Eskom's credit status to junk, saying the suspensions had led to a loss of confidence in the utility's corporate governance. Zola Tsotsi, Eskom's chairman said the company's board will meet at 8pm (1800 GMT). "The accusations levelled against me are issues that the board can sit down and resolve without any difficulty whatsoever," Tsotsi told Reuters. "They are small issues that are being made into massive. The board is doing someone else's bidding," he said, refusing to elaborate on who was behind his removal. If the board votes to remove Tsotsi, it is required by law to inform Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, whose department is responsible for Eskom and other public agencies, who can either confirm his removal or defer the final decision to President Jacob Zuma's cabinet. Eskom's chief executive, Tshediso Motana, has filed a complaint of "unfair suspension" with the national labour arbitrator. Motana was appointed to his post in August. A government source close to the process said the majority of the board were concerned by Motana's suspension. "The majority of the board felt how can the chief executive who was at the helm for only six months be fingered in some of the problems at Eskom," a government source said. "They felt the chairman has been there for four years and should take some responsibility and the inquiry into the problems should investigate him."