ANC NEC members urge Gordhan to get rid of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter amid load shedding

Calls are increasing for Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to fire Eskom CEO André de Ruyter as the country battles with constant load shedding.

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) met on Friday to receive and discuss outstanding reports from the governing party’s integrity commission, amongst other matters.

One of the matters ventilated by NEC members during the meeting was Eskom and the country’s energy crisis.

WATCH: ‘Government must act to end load shedding’ – ANC’s Pule Mabe

Gordhan had briefed the NEC about government’s plan to end load shedding, where he attributed Eskom’s crisis to poor maintenance and sabotage at power stations.

But some members were not convinced and urged the Public Enterprises Minister to replace De Ruyter, Sunday Times has reported.

According to News24, a number of ANC provincial leaders – including KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) secretary Bheki Mtolo – raised concerns about how the Eskom crisis was being managed.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) previously called for De Ruyter as well as Eskom COO, Jan Oberholzer to be fired.

‘Overthrow the state’

The conversation around Du Ruyter’s future at Eskom comes after Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe suggested that the power utility was attempting to “overthrow the state” by not dealing with load shedding.

Mantashe seemingly took a dig at De Ruyter comparing him to a “policeman” who is focused on “chasing criminals, ” without a grasp of Eskom’s challenges.

Earlier in the week, Gordhan called on Eskom’s board to work hard to get the country out of higher stages of load shedding and reduce the power cuts “with immediate effect”.

READ MORE: Load shedding crisis: ‘We have left it for too long and it’s too late’

The minister had pointed out to the board that load shedding has a detrimental effect on South Africa’s economy with businesses losing productivity.

On Saturday, President Cyril Ramaphosa, meanwhile, pleaded for patience with the new board, which was appointed in September this year.

“Let us give them a chance. Yes we have said that load shedding is going to be a problem for us going forward but government is committed to bringing load shedding to an end. Load shedding is not a deliberate act by the government [or] by Eskom management.

“It’s just what we are dealing with in terms of the power stations that keep breaking and this has been happening for quite some time and we are dealing with the problem,” he told reporters in Cape Town.

Government is committed to ending #loadshedding. pic.twitter.com/0aKvhAwzbz

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 10, 2022

The president also seemed to share the same sentiments as Mantashe who has repeatedly insisted that the country’s energy crisis was not a “South African phenomenon”.

“I am not saying this as an excuse; a number of other countries are dealing with energy challenges. In our case, we are dealing with this problem with the seriousness it deserves and we are putting resources behind it — money, billions and billions of rand,” Ramaphosa said.

Eskom’s 13-member board is being led by Mpho Makwana, who previously first served as a non-executive director of the power utility between 2002 and 2011.

Load shedding

The country is currently on Stage 5 load shedding, and it will remain in place until further notice since Eskom is facing an increase in unplanned breakdowns.

At the same time, the power utility has no money for diesel to keep the lights on after having spend R11.2 billion on the liquid fuel in six months.

While Eskom last month received 50 million litres of diesel from PetroSA for the short term, the power utility asked the National Treasury for money to buy more.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has declined to come to Eskom’s rescue.

NOW READ: National Treasury says it really can’t help Eskom buy diesel