What should be on the CV of whoever takes over Eskom

There is a joke doing the rounds that the ice cream of the guy who started his business with his R350 social relief grant has melted because of load shedding.

This is no laughing matter because the situation at Eskom is untenable. Businesses are folding, people are losing jobs at an alarming rate, the economy is stagnant and food is being thrown away due to frequent load shedding. The energy crisis may become a pandemic.

After energy regulator Nersa announced yesterday an 18.65% increase in electricity prices for this year, consumers suffered another blow.

READ MORE: Nersa approves an 18.65% electricity tariff increase for Eskom

Even efforts by President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut short his overseas trips on two occasions to deal with the energy crisis have yielded no joy.

Many consumers are now happier with stage 3 load shedding than stage 6 because two hours – instead of six – of no power is more manageable. With Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter vacating his position in March, the power utility needs a new chief executive as of now, because nothing can lift the public’s mood until the energy crisis is resolved.

The utility is burdened with several challenges. It is faced with R396.3 billion of debt; it is failing to provide maintenance for its power stations; and it is riddled with too much political interference and poor governance control. With so many pressing issues, the new CEO is in for a big challenge.

The CEO must truly understand the job comes with a lot of pressure because the country will expect load shedding to end, not in 10 years’ time, but as a matter of urgency.

The new Eskom boss must be mentally ready to take on the abuse that comes with the criticism South Africans will be dishing in surplus – it is not a job for the faint-hearted. The new boss must be fearless and must relay the problems of the utility to government as bluntly as possible, without sugar-coating the dire situation.

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For in so doing, the problem of Cabinet ministers contradicting each other about Eskom’s woes will end.

Instead of sitting in an air-conditioned office all day, drinking coffee, the CEO must be hands on. That person must be on the ground and actively go to power stations to be in touch with the practical steps that need to be taken to restore the infrastructure.

This will help the CEO to be in touch with the ground forces operating there and they will be well-equipped to solve Eskom’s problems without only relying on theoretical knowledge of the challenges.

This will then further ensure the CEO resolves the governance issues that are crippling the utility, because he or she will form relations with every level of management at Eskom.

The new CEO should also prioritise the financial stability of the organisation by creatively reducing Eskom’s debt, and be financially savvy enough to renegotiate the parastatal’s coal contracts that are bleeding the utility.

Eskom also needs a CEO who will not be naïve to a point of throwing South Africa into the deep end of the new Just Energy Transition plan without realising we still need coal, and the economy is not ready to completely move away from the commodity due to the jobs provided by the coal industry.

The CEO must have expertise, experience and an educational background in the energy sector because a clueless boss will only lead the utility to a worse position than it is currently in. And in assisting the CEO, government must also come to the party to save the utility.

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Given the fact that De Ruyter said one of the reasons for his resignation was interference and lack of support, government must give the new CEO space to breathe and any unwanted political interference must end abruptly.

The government must stop thinking it is the management of the parastatal, its duty is to keep the board of Eskom accountable.

Other than that, government must make sure Treasury makes available the funds for Eskom to restructure itself, gradually deal with its debt and provide maintenance at power stations to ensure that load shedding is a thing of the past.