André de Ruyter resigns as Eskom CEO

Moneyweb has confirmed that André de Ruyter has resigned as CEO of state power utility Eskom, amid SA’s worsening power supply crisis and fragile electricity grid.

De Ruyter’s last day at Eskom will be 31 March 2023, utility board chairperson, Mpho Makwana said in a statement confirming the resignation.

“It has been an honour and privilege to serve Eskom and South Africa, I wish all the hardworking people of Eskom well,” De Ruyter said.

Eskom also confirmed it has no intention to appoint Makwana as the interim CEO.

“On behalf of the Eskom board, executive and the entire Eskom staff, I thank de Ruyter for his extraordinary service to the people of South Africa. I also thank De Ruyter’s family for supporting the Group Executive during the tumultuous period,” Makwana said.

Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, said Ruyter had carried and enormous task on behalf of the country, thanking him for undertaking a “difficult job”.

According to a News24 report, De Ruyter informed Makwana about his resignation earlier this week; Makwana then relayed the information to Gordhan.

His resignation follows an attack on Eskom last week by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who said the power utility was attempting to overthrow the government by failing to end load shedding, which first started over 15 years ago.

Mantashe said Eskom was “actively agitating for the overthrow of the state” with continued implementation of load shedding.

Tenuous tenure

De Ruyter was appointed CEO of Eskom in December 2019, and his tenure saw him both threaten to resign early on in his stint at the power utility, and state unequivocally last year that he would not resign.

Read: I’m not resigning, says Eskom boss

De Ruyter has faced many detractors, some of whom – such as the Black Business Council and the National Union of Metalworkers – have called for his resignation in the past.

Before joining Eskom, De Ruyter had a 30-year career spanning across various sectors both locally and internationally, as well as in various roles in the energy industry. He has experience in the management of coal, oil, chemical and gas business.

His departure puts further pressure on Eskom, which has already seen a slew of top talent leave and has been struggling with a dearth of much-needed critical skills such as energy generation.

Comment

In a statement on Wednesday, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said De Ruyter resignation is a “major blow” to Eskom, urging the utility’s board to speedily find a replacement, even if on temporary basis.

“The replacement must have the skills and capability to continue all efforts to reduce load shedding, accelerate the Eskom restructure, tackle ongoing corruption and sabotage and work with business to diversify the energy generation and distribution environment, with the focus on cleaner energy,” Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said.

“While this is a blow, it is hardly surprising, given the irresponsible comments by some in govt and some other sectors,” Coovadia said.

He commended De Ruyter for his efforts in his role at Eskom under circumstances he described as unbearable.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said its government has requested a meeting with De Ruyter, citing that his departure triggers a “deep anxiety” about the leadership at Eskom.

“Our deepest concern has been the distinct lack of urgency and leadership on this matter…”

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

He said the province is spending R36 million over the medium term on its municipal energy resilience programme, aimed at supporting municipalities, and the private sector, to both generate and procure their own power.

In contrast, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said energy availability has been at its worst levels under De Ruyter, saying that his resignation is long overdue.

“We demand that whoever replaces Andre De Ruyter must have an engineering background, and must also work for Eskom so that that person can understand all the technical aspects of this business,” Numsa said in a statement.

The union also called for Gordhan’s resignation, calling him an SOE wrecking ball.

“He must be replaced with someone who will not frequently violate good governance processes by interfering in the day-to-day running of SOEs” it said.

Attempts to reach De Ruyter and Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha were unsuccessful.

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