Kumba ore CEO Ras Myburgh has been seconded to lead Eskom out of its current crisis.

Bruce Whitfield:
What is interesting and enormously refreshing with this story is that Ras Myburgh is leaving Kumba to go to Eskom from July and he joins us now and Ras, was this your idea or is it an Anglo American brainchild to try and secure some kind of reliable power source into the future? What's going on?

Ras Myburgh:
Bruce, thank you very much and good evening. Eskom approached me some time ago to come and assist them a little bit with some of the challenges they have and I initially didn't think that would be the right thing for me to do but eventually they approached our board via Alan Morgan and working out some arrangement I think, on which it can work for all of us. I think based on where the challenges are with the country and facing us all, it definitely is the right thing for us to do at this stage.

Bruce Whitfield:
Because you actually did work at Eskom previously.

Ras Myburgh:
That’s correct yes, I've got about 17 years of generation experience with them before I moved into the mining industry.

Bruce Whitfield:
How are you going to marry then, that experience that you have learned within the mining sector with the experience that you have got within Eskom as well? Those two theoretically are a match made in heaven.

Ras Myburgh:
Well it is key of course, the coal supply and the quality of it and how to react in the boilers. So understanding from a generation side is key and also understanding the miners and what the key issues are from the resources point of view I think is important I think tackling the challenges on the coal supply side.

Bruce Whitfield:
Because it must have been extremely frustrating for you sitting within a mining company watching what was going on at Eskom, possibly having a solution, and because you are outside not being able to do anything about it?

Ras Myburgh:
Well let me put it this way, I don't have a solution, I am not the…

Bruce Whitfield:
You are not the silver bullet guy.

Ras Myburgh:
This is the one and let's do it. What I can bring of course is my own experience and some experience in doing high-level problem-solving, I have worked in a couple of problem-solving teams in the past with these type of things, and hoping in fact to bring all of that together to help and assist with the team in Eskom to develop those long-term tactics and put them to bear. I think they are starting to do the right things already and I think what Brian has been doing in the generation group also with the fuel supply side is going on the right direction.

Bruce Whitfield:
Because clearly one of the very serious issues at Eskom was the failure to effectively acquire sufficient coal and also at the right prices and that effectively is what you're going to be doing there.

Ras Myburgh:
Well obviously we need to develop a total supply strategy not necessarily in the short-term look at supplies which will also be part of it anyway but those are the challenges.

Bruce Whitfield:
So is this actually a secondment or have you resigned now from the Anglo-American group and you are going to be employed and paid by Eskom?

Ras Myburgh:
No it is just a secondment. I retain my employment status with Kumba Iron Ore and I'm going to do this for a two-year time with Eskom.

Bruce Whitfield:
So it is a two-year contract. Thank you very much Ras Myburgh, who is the outgoing chief executive of Kumba Iron ore, he is going off to Eskom to try and set things to right there but he is being replaced by a man called Chris Griffith who is currently the head of joint-venture operations at Anglo Platinum.