By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE) announced the appointment of Precious Mmabakwena Edward as the new head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO), effective 1st of September 2025.
Edward is replacing Bernard Magoro, who’s contract expired at the end of April, after which Elsa Strydom stepped in as interim head of the IPPO.
She will be responsible for leading the IPPO in the achievement of all strategic, tactical and operational objectives associated with public IPP procurement.
Additionally, She will be responsible for strategic direction, stakeholder management, financial management management, ethical governance, operational and people management, as well as the developmental impact of the IPPO.
In a statement, the department said, “Her appointment follows a rigorous and transparent recruitment process, it added she brings two decades of extensive experience in South Africa’s generation sector.”
The IPPO was set up by the DBSA, the National Treasury and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to implement the country’s public IPP procurement programme.
It has overseen the public procurement of more than 7 300 MW of renewable-energy capacity since 2011, and the entity has also been designated to oversee the pilot Independent Transmission Project procurement programme, to be launched later this year.
Edward will report to the director-general, with the CEO of DBSA contributing support to the IPPO as agreed in the memorandum of understanding.
The DMRE is currently being split into the Department of Electricity and Energy and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.
Prior to that she had worked at Eskom, where she had played various roles, including in providing technical support to coal-fired power stations, as well as being head of fuel sourcing and as the contracts lead on the Medupi power station project. She holds a BTech in Electrical Engineering, a Masters in Business Leadership (MBL) and LLB degree.