Mandy Rambharos worked at Eskom for 24 years, until October 2022. In her time at the power supplier, she introduced the Just Energy Transition office as a means to make Eskom greener.

Read in Daily Maverick: “What the world is learning from South Africa’s nascent Just Energy Transition Investment Plan”

Because Eskom is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters, Rambharos wanted to make sure it could lessen its carbon footprint through the introduction of a renewable energy source power station.

Last coal huff and puff 

Last month, before Rambharos left her office, Komati power station huffed the last bit of smoke from coal.

Instead of this power station closing down, like many others, Rambharos brought it to life again.

Komati now operates as a renewable power plant station with 150MW solar PV, 70MW of wind and 150MW of battery storage.

Three other power stations on the verge of being closed down – Hendrina, Grootvlei and Camden – are also set to be repurposed for renewable sources of energy and are undergoing environmental assessments.

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Uncertainty about whether Eskom will continue with the transition to greener energy remains following Rambharos’s resignation and that of CEO André de Ruyter, who is a big supporter of this change. He is set to leave at the end of March 2023.

Greener pastures

Rambharos has moved to the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington DC. The non-profit organisation focuses on “driving game-changing solutions to our biggest environmental issues like climate change, air pollution and more”, according to its website.

In an interview with News24, Rambharos said: “I feel like I’ve done enough groundwork and built enough of the base for somebody else to run with. And I realise, too, that it is partly due to my personality that things got done.” DM168

How we chose the People of the Year winners

In the past, Daily Maverick journalists decided who they thought warranted the title of Person of the Year, but for the second year running, we have asked readers to vote for their preferred choice, with the proviso that we still have the final say. Choosing the annual winners is a labour of love because that’s what it takes to get a bunch of DM editors to decide whether they agree or disagree with the choices of 13,000 readers. Over the next few days, we shall republish online all the results in various categories. – Heather Robertson, DM168 editor

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.