The state-owned power utility Wednesday released a statement which announced that Andre de Ruyter, their CEO who took over reigns in 2020 but stepped down last December was due to vacate office next month to give them time to find a successor.
“Following the convening of a special Board meeting on 22 February 2023, the Eskom Board and Group Chief Executive Andre de Ruyter have reached mutual agreement to curtail his notice period to 28 February 2023,” read Eskom’s statement.
Eskom’s board members also said de Ruyter would vacate his office with immediate effect.
“The board further resolved that Mr. 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,” added the company’s statement.
The announcement by the power utility came soon after its former CEO gave an interview with eNCA news agency where he expressed doubts about the political will in government to end endemic graft at the power utility.
When asked “is Eskom a feeding trough if you like for the ANC” de Ruyter responded with “I would say that the evidence suggests that it is.”
“I expressed my concerns to a senior government minister about attempts in my view to water down governance around the $8.5 billion U.S. Dollars that through Eskom’s intervention we got at COP26, and the response was essentially you know you have to be pragmatic,” he said.
“In order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit,” added the former CEO.
The South African news agency also reported that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana Wednesday announced approximately $14 billion (R254 billion) in debt relief for the state-owned power utility.
“We are proposing a total debt relief arrangement for Eskom of R254 billion,” said Godongwana.
“This consists of two components, one consists of R184 billion. This represents Eskom’s full debt requirements. Second is the direct takeover of up to R70 billion of Eskom’s loan portion in 2025-26,” added the finance minister.
Information for this report was sourced from eNCA and Agence France-Presse
