De Ruyter ‘not qualified or experienced enough to pull Eskom out of this mess’

With growing calls for Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter to step down, the debate has shifted from whether he should get the boot, to whether he’s done his best, or if he has been Eskom’s worst nightmare.

As the new Eskom board is expected to undertake a full assessment of the efficiency of managers and operators at the power utility, it seems experts have agreed that it is time for De Ruyter to go, regardless of his qualifications, experience, or capability to fix the crisis.

A tweet from energy analyst Prof Anton Eberhard read: “I’ll be surprised if CEO De Ruyter does not depart Eskom soon.

“[It’s] an impossible job: misaligned board, suspicious minister who contacts his management directly, spied on by the state, inadequate police action vs corruption.”

Eberhard said De Ruyter had helped deliver the Just Energy Transition (JET) partnerships at COP27, before asking if it’s a “good time to leave?”

ALSO READ: Firing De Ruyter now like booting the pilot while plane is crashing

However, another energy analyst, Ted Blom, said De Ruyter should have left a long time ago.

“He is not qualified or experienced enough to pull Eskom out of this mess.

“I said this a long time ago; I told everyone that he was not fit to run Eskom because he doesn’t have experience and also doesn’t have a strategy for the utility,” he said.

“He’s not a turnaround person and doesn’t have a clue on how to turn around an organisation. He also lacks human relation skills.”

‘Eskom power stations outdated’

Political analyst Piet Croucamp insisted people who wanted De Ruyter out did not understand how complicated the situation was at Eskom.

“There is nothing to say that hasn’t been said. The power stations are old and outdated; the staff were not skilled enough because it’s a difficult turnaround process with people who [have] a vested interest in corruption and the bad management of the utility,” he said.

According to SANews, President Cyril Ramaphosa said although the beleaguered electricity supplier has been facing serious challenges at its power stations, leading to months of load shedding, De Ruyter should retain his position.

“The group CEO reports to the Eskom board, which conducts performance reviews against agreed targets,” Ramaphosa said.

“The new Eskom board was appointed on 1 October and will be given the space to assess what needs to be done to improve the efficiency of the existing plant and the effectiveness of the management and operators at all levels.

“The new board has the skills, experience and the expertise to undertake a thorough assessment of current executive leadership at Eskom and take whatever steps they consider necessary to address areas of weakness.”

The president emphasised that allowing the board to do its assessments is critical, as the power utility has undergone a high volume of leadership change at the executive level.

ALSO READ: EFF: Fire Eskom board, de Ruyter and Oberholzer or else’

“There is no state entity that has had as many CEOs as Eskom… We need to have a proper assessment of everybody at Eskom. We also need to have an assessment of our various power stations. That process is underway,” he said.

“I’d like us to allow the board to embark on this process and they will be able to brief [government] on what their assessment is, and it is then that they will propose how best the matter should be handled.

“Eskom has gone through enormous challenges and difficulties. Let us give them the support they need so that they can do their work. Where they fail, clearly action does need to be taken, but that is now a board matter.”

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za