Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Eskom Holdings Ltd.’s board members haven’t stepped down and have been told they have the support of the South African government, said Daniel Dube, a director at the company, a day after the utility’s chairman resigned citing a lack of state support.

Board members received the backing of Barbara Hogan, the minister of public enterprises, at a meeting at 3 p.m. local time yesterday, Dube said by mobile phone today. Bobby Godsell yesterday resigned from his post as chairman of the state-owned utility because he said the government hadn’t backed a board decision to oust Chief Executive Officer Jacob Maroga.

Hogan “was in full support of the board,” Dube said, adding that he expects acting Chairman Mpho Makwana to make an announcement. “I am expecting him to make a statement to say he is now in charge and how things will be done.”

CEO Maroga’s offer to resign two weeks ago was accepted by Eskom’s board, Godsell said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Maroga later retracted his offer and declined the board’s offer to submit to “binding private arbitration” or to respond to the board’s reasons for its breakdown in relations with him, Godsell added.

Eskom is in the midst of a 385 billion-rand ($52 billion) expansion to rectify a shortage of generation capacity that in January 2008 led to the closure of most of South Africa’s mines and smelters for five days.

Investment Program

The expenditure is part of an infrastructure-investment program that the government is relying on to pull the country out of its first recession in 17 years.

The state-owned utility’s credit ratings won’t be affected by changes in management because leadership makes up only one component of its overall assessment, Helen Francis, vice- president senior credit officer for Moody’s Investors Service Ltd., said in an e-mailed response to questions today.

Moody’s cut Eskom’s foreign currency credit rating three levels last year, adding to funding costs for the utility.

Dube, who joined Eskom’s board last year, said he’s not aware of any board members who have resigned other than Godsell.

Allen Morgan, a former chief executive officer of Eskom and current board member, said he may quit when contacted on his mobile phone today.

‘Contemplating Position’

“I am still contemplating my position. I haven’t decided yet,” he said, adding that there may be further announcements about Eskom’s management. “Watch this space.”

Morgan joined Eskom’s board in 2002 and said he had indicated earlier this year that he would like to leave his post at the end of December.

Maroga has repeatedly declined to comment when called by Bloomberg. The CEO returned to work yesterday after a 10-day absence, Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said. Maroga’s treatment was criticized by the Black Management Forum, a lobby group, and the youth league of the ruling African National Congress.

South Africa’s government is pushing for the promotion of black executives at major companies to help make up for racial discrimination during the apartheid era that left the bulk of the country’s wealth in the hands of the white minority.

Both the forum and the youth wing of the South African Communist Party, an ally of the ANC, welcomed Godsell’s departure yesterday. The forum also called for Eskom’s board to resign.

‘Act Decisively’

“The government needed to act decisively in favor of better delivery,” the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s biggest opposition party, said in a statement yesterday. “Instead, it chose to fuel a tirade of racial rhetoric which resulted in the resignation of Bobby Godsell.”

Maroga yesterday wrote a letter to Hogan, which was distributed to executive managers at Eskom, affirming his position as CEO and saying that any change in his status must be made by the government, Johannesburg-based Business Day reported.

The leader of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s largest labor federation, said Godsell’s departure will damage Eskom.

“He will be a loss to Eskom, no doubt about it,” Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi said in an interview. Eskom needs the “wisdom and experience” of Godsell, a former chief executive officer of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., he said.

The National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa’s largest labor union and a member of Cosatu, said it will make an announcement on Eskom later today.

Outstanding Debt

Eskom has 71.8 billion rand of outstanding debt of which 53.3 billion rand is in the form of bonds, according to Bloomberg data. The company has proposed tripling electricity tariffs over the next three years and posted a record 9.7 billion-rand loss in its last financial year.

Eskom bonds with the shortest maturity fell yesterday, pushing up the yield on the 4 percent securities due 2013 by 40 basis points to 5.69 percent, the highest level since Sept. 15. The bond’s price, which moves inversely to the yield, fell 15 cents to 95 rand.

To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 11:10 EST