Mixed reaction as Eskom’s De Ruyter jumps ship

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s last day in office will be March 31 next year, and there has been mixed reaction after the confirmation of his resignation on Wednesday afternoon.

His resignation comes as the power utility approaches a record two months of uninterrupted daily blackouts, which has seen the country at high stages of load-shedding for more than a week.

A number of organisations have been calling for De Ruyter to be fired, including the Black Business Council.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA rejoiced at his resignation, saying it was overdue, and called for public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan to also step down.

“We are overjoyed at the news that the worst CEO in the history of Eskom’s existence, has finally decided to do the right thing and resign. When Andre de Ruyter started at Eskom, he claimed he could end load-shedding in 18 months.

“Unfortunately, we have experienced the worst load-shedding in the history of Eskom. Andre de Ruyter’s gross incompetence is the reason we have such shockingly high levels of rolling blackouts,” Numsa said.

However, Solidarity said “the wrong person had resigned”. 

“The resignation of André de Ruyter will deepen the Eskom crisis, not alleviate it. The wrong person resigned.

“The problem at Eskom is not the CEO’s operational will but the government’s political will. The best person in the country can be appointed to the position, but the current political dispensation makes it an impossible task for the person,” Solidarity said in a statement. 

Former Eskom interim group CEO Matshela Koko said now that De Ruyter has resigned and COO Jan Oberholzer is leaving in April 2023, he hoped this was the new beginning for Eskom.

“I firmly believe that Eskom’s maintenance effort, coupled with operations discipline can stop load-shedding in six to 12 months,” Koko said.

Meanwhile, Western Cape premier Alan Winde said the provincial government’s experience of De Ruyter was that he had been committed to resolving the significant and myriad long-standing issues facing Eskom during his almost three years at the helm.

“However, he lacked the critical government support to resolve these issues,” Winde said.

Winde said the provincial government’s deepest concern had been the distinct lack of urgency and leadership that was critical to the province’s livelihood.

“One small example is that we could have reduced load-shedding by a whopping 96.5% in 2021, had 5GW of renewable energy been brought online as was planned, but then it was compromised with the significant delay between bid window 4 and bid window 5 of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme.”

Winde also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to outline how he will prioritise and ensure a fit-for-purpose Eskom leader who will deliver the energy plan as promised and needed by the province and country.

Winde said the provincial government has asked for a meeting with De Ruyter.

“We are committed to doing all we can as a provincial government to reduce the disastrous impact that an unreliable electricity supply is having on the Western Cape.”

DA shadow minister of public enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia said his party condemned this resignation.

It called for emergency action to be taken to fix the ever-increasing problem of load-shedding.

“It’s time for a ring-fenced state of disaster to be declared around Eskom, governed independently by a panel of experts who ideally should include the former CEO who knows more than most what bedevils Eskom,” Cachalia said.

The Eskom board said De Ruyter had agreed to stay for an additional period beyond the stipulated 30 days’ notice to ensure continuity while it searched for his successor.