Eskom’s incoming CEO, Andre de Ruyter, has confirmed he will join the embattled state-owned utility sooner than scheduled.
In response to a request by the government, De Ruyter has confirmed to Business Day that he will begin work on Christmas Day.
“I will begin my tenure with a series of visits to Eskom power stations starting on Christmas Day until New Year and will commence formal duties at Megawatt Park from January 6 onwards,” said De Ruyter.
Eskom has been without a permanent CEO since the end of July, when Phakamani Hadebe resigned after just more than a year on the job, saying it had taken a toll on his health.
De Ruyter’s appointment was announced in November and he was due to report for duty on January 15. He is currently the CEO of packaging group Nampak. The company announced in a Sens notice issued in November that De Ruyter’s resignation as CEO and executive director would take effect on January 15.
Eskom — which supplies virtually all SA’s power and is hamstrung by staggering debt, maintenance issues and design flaws at its new coal power stations Medupi and Kusile — had to resort to stage six load-shedding last week as a result of a shortage of capacity.
Ratings agencies have identified the state power utility as the single largest risk to the economy. The latest round of load-shedding has threatened to undermine any hopes of sustaining the nominal economic growth the country experienced in 2019.
The development prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to return prematurely from a trip to Egypt to convene a meeting with senior Eskom executives.
Following this, the cabinet mandated public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan to negotiate with De Ruyter and Nampak to get the incoming CEO to join Eskom sooner than planned, given the ongoing serious operational problems facing the utility.
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