By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom has announced that its CEO André de Ruyter is leaving the state-owned power utility with immediate effect.
In a statement released late on Wednesday, it said: “Following the convening of a special board meeting on 22 February 2023, the Eskom board and Group Chief Executive (GCE) Andrè de Ruyter have reached mutual agreement to curtail his notice period to 28 February 2023.
“The board further resolved that De Ruyter will not be required to serve the balance of his notice period but that he will be released from his position with immediate effect.”
De Ruyter resigned from the struggling parastatal in December, after three years at the helm. His last day was set to be 31 March 2023, according to board chair Mpho Makwana’s statement at the time.
“Acting Group Chief Executive arrangements are being finalized with the shareholder minister and will be communicated shortly,” the group said.
De Ruyter’s expedited exit from Eskom follows an explosive interview with eNCA this week, where the now former chief executive blew the lid on corruption and political interference at the embattled power utility.
He made serious allegations of misconduct by unnamed senior government officials. He stated plainly that the governing African National Congress (ANC) were using the state-owned company as a “feeding trough”.
Public Enterprise minister Pravin Gordhan, called the interview “unfortunate“ and said de Ruyter should keep his political views private and instead focus on ending load shedding.
De Ruyter, however, made it clear in the interview that government meddling, poor policy management, and entrenched corruption among the political elite made this task impossible.
Senior government officials, including Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe have adopted an outright antagonistic and alarmingly hostile position on the executive, going so far as to accuse him of high treason.
No evidence was given for the accusation, and, to date, Mantashe has not retracted the statement, nor have any government officials defended him.
De Ruyter had evidently lost all political support in the position and has described the situation as untenable.
He has also had threats made on his life and was allegedly poisoned earlier this year. He tendered his resignation in December 2022 and was originally expected to vacate the role at the end of March 2023.
He admitted to failing to prevent load-shedding in the country but highlighted entrenched corruption within government and governance around Eskom.
Eskom has put out an advert for the position, looking for someone with engineering skills and at least 15 years of experience in managing large companies.
South Africa is currently in the throes of a load-shedding crisis with the country in its 115th consecutive day of power cuts. At present the country is on Stage 6 load-shedding – meaning between 8-12 hours of power cuts.
Credit rating agencies in recent weeks have warned of the impact of the prolonged electricity cuts on its ratings for the country. Fitch Ratings has forecast economic growth will average 1.1% this year.