EPPF Chief Executive and Principal Officer to step down

The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) Board of Trustees announced that Linda Mateza, Chief Executive and Principal Officer, has chosen to step down from her role in order to significantly reduce her work commitments to spend more time with her young family.

Ms Caroline Henry: Chairman of the EPPF Board said: “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank Ms Mateza for the leadership she has demonstrated during her time at the Fund. With her guidance, the Fund continued to deliver the investment returns and incrementally improve its member services as required of a self-administered defined benefit fund, a task made significantly more challenging by the historic market volatility we have seen as a result of COVID-19. Despite this volatility, under Ms Mateza’s leadership and based on responsible evaluation, the Fund paid a special bonus to our members recognising the need to buffer them from the harsh economic realities of COVID-19.”

“Ms. Mateza enjoyed the full and on-going support of the EPPF Board of Trustees. We are naturally disappointed that she is stepping down, but we support her decision, which was made in the best interests of Linda and her family,” Henry stated.

Henry said that Ms. Mateza had also worked to utilise the size and stature of the Fund to reap long-term sustainable economic benefits for South Africa, such as transformation within the pension fund industry and focusing on investment in the real economy, seeking to improve the broader economic landscape the Funds’ members live within.

The Chief Executive will serve her notice period until 31 March 2021 to ensure an effective handover of management of the Fund. Ms Mateza will be working with the Board on the process of appointing a new Chief Executive and Principal Officer in a search that will be open to internal and external candidates in line with the robust governance structures of the Fund. The Board and the EPPF’s management team will continue to remain focused on the overall effectiveness of the Fund and meeting its members’ requirements.

ENDS