When Brian Molefe was seconded from Transnet and became acting CEO of Eskom in April 2015, he brought "immediate stability to the organisation", MPs heard on Tuesday.
Molefe is currently under the spotlight at the Public Enterprises portfolio committee's inquiry into state capture at Eskom, and is expected to take the stand himself on Tuesday.
Former Eskom non-executive board member Venete Klein said that during his tenure, Molefe successfully addressed various key challenges faced by the board of the power utilities at the time.
"Bearing in mind that four senior executives had been suspended in March 2015, I was particularly relieved and pleased with the manner in which Mr Molefe had brought immediate stability to the organisation and taken control of the business with all the correct results," she said.
Eskom was in the throes of so-called load shedding -- rolling black-outs across the country -- at the time.
"The entire board, including me, was in awe of what Mr Molefe had been able to deliver, especially as he had done so with substantially the same executive team who had previously not known how to turn the load shedding situation around," Klein continued.
The board had been under severe public and media scrutiny, and attack, since its appointment in December 2014.
"The turnaround experienced under Mr Molefe's tenure had been particularly pleasing. In fact, such was his performance that Mr Molefe was nominated for the award of South African of the Year in 2015."
Klein said Molefe had demonstrated the "expertise, urgent resolve and certainty of direction" to set Eskom on the right course.
Molefe was implicated in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's "State of Capture" report, which was released last year. He resigned in November 2016, and his resignation became effective on January 1 this year.