The process of appointing a new Eskom CEO to replace André de Ruyter is near completion with the utility’s board expected to make an announcement within the next month or so, says public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
The power utility’s CFO, Calib Cassim, was appointed as interim CEO in February after the abrupt departure of De Ruyter, who accused the ANC of using Eskom as a “feeding trough”, among other allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Cassim became Eskom CFO in November 2018 after serving as acting CFO from July 2017.
“The board is on course identifying and appointing a group CEO … and within the next month or so there should be some announcements,” Gordhan said during the tabling of the public enterprises budget for 2022/23 in parliament.
Eskom is at the heart of the country’s energy crisis, as it implements ever higher stages of load-shedding, often at short notice. The Eskom executive recently warned of a high likelihood of reaching stages 7 and 8 as the power system is severely constrained heading into the winter months, when demand outstrips supply.
Upon an escalation to higher stages the effects of load-shedding on businesses, healthcare and education will go from bad to worse, lead to high food prices and further tarnish SA’s image as a favourable emerging market to which to funnel investor capital.
New capacity
The energy crisis is unlikely to wane in 2023, with Gordhan telling the portfolio committee on public enterprises on Tuesday that SA will have to “settle for load-shedding of a significant order until end of the year at least”.
“Determined efforts are being made by the government to ensure that the generation capacity of Eskom is being complemented by the introduction of new capacity to end load-shedding,” he said.
As part of the overhaul of the power utility, the separate transmission company will be operational by November followed by the corporatisation of the separate distribution company in December, Gordhan said.
“The Kusile units … we hope to be in operation by the end of the year. The completion of the new build programme of the remaining units of Kusile and Medupi will be on schedule,” Gordhan said. “So Eskom will no longer be the old Eskom as we know it by … [by] the end of this financial year.”
Gordhan has previously told the portfolio committee that various Chinese entities had offered to lend SA a hand to eliminate power blackouts. The unsolicited help was offered to the minister and a delegation of Eskom executives during their visit to China in April.
The visit included negotiations with Chinese authorities over the delivery of locomotives and spare parts by Chinese state-owned CRRC e-Loco to state-owned logistics company Transnet. These negotiations are under way, Gordhan said on Tuesday, adding that they will take time to reach conclusion.
The minister announced that Transnet will spend R122bn over the next three years to upgrade railway lines and ports that are crucial for transporting minerals.
“The investment is targeted mainly at rail, with R85bn [to be spent], and the ports authority will also see a significant R13bn being spent to upgrade our ports as well,” he said.
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