The latest criticism of Eskom CEO Dan Marokane’s remuneration has generated exactly the kind of predictable, headline-grabbing outrage that sells papers and fuels social media firestorms. A salary of R11.7 million—substantial by any measure—is more than enough to provoke public anger in a country already buckling under the weight of staggering unemployment, double-digit electricity tariff hikes, and a stubborn, suffocating cost-of-living crisis. On the surface, the visceral reaction is understandable. When households are forced to choose between buying food and keeping the lights on, a seven-figure executive package feels like a kick in the teeth.
But here is the uncomfortable truth that the outrage mob refuses to confront: if South Africans are genuinely serious about accountability—not performative indignation, but real, transformative accountability—then executive performance must be measured by outcomes, not by the raw number on a pay slip. Dan Marokane stepped into the CEO role at a time when Eskom was arguably at its most perilous point in three decades. Load-shedding was a daily curse; the national grid was teetering on the edge of total collapse; and public trust had evaporated into cynical resignation. Against that apocalyptic backdrop, Marokane has delivered tangible, measurable improvements: a marked reduction in unplanned outages, sustained periods without rotational blackouts, and a slow but steady restoration of operational discipline.
None of this excuses corporate excess, nor does it demand that citizens cheerlead for executive wealth. But reducing his entire contribution to a salary figure is intellectually lazy and strategically dangerous. It discourages skilled leadership from taking on the country’s most thankless job, and it confuses the symptom—high pay—with the disease of systemic failure. Judge Dan Marokane by the lights staying on, by the coal stockpiles rising, by the maintenance backlogs clearing. That is the only scorecard that truly matters. If he fails on those fronts, then the outrage will be justified. But if he succeeds, perhaps South Africa will learn that leadership, real leadership, is worth every cent—especially when it pulls a nation back from the brink.
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