De Ruyter resigns from Eskom after public attacks

André de Ruyter, Eskom's group chief executive, has resigned. He allegedly notified board chairperson Mpho Makwana of his decision earlier in the week, who informed Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. De Ruyter's action follows a series of public attacks on him by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, and is thought to stem from Gordhan and President Cyril Ramaphosa's subsequent failure to publicly support him and his management. Last week, Mantashe accused Eskom of "actively agitating for the overthrow of the state". Neither Ramaphosa nor Gordhan responded to the charge. – Sandra Laurence.Eskom's De Ruyter Is Said to Quit Amid Record Power Outages.By Paul Burkhardt, Prinesha Naidoo and Paul Vecchiatto.Andre de Ruyter quit as chief executive officer of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., leaving the South African state power utility facing a potential leadership vacuum as it struggles to tackle record blackouts and awaits government support to reduce its massive debt burden. .De Ruyter will remain in his role until March 31 and a comprehensive search will be conducted to find a suitable successor, Eskom Chairman Mpho Makwana said in a statement on Wednesday. Two heads of the company's flailing generation division have quit this year, while Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer is set to retire in April..The rand gave up some gains after De Ruyter's decision to go was first reported and was 0.6% stronger at 17.1693 rand per dollar by 6:23 p.m. local time. Yields on the company's dollar debt due 2025 climbed 4 basis points to 11.3%..De Ruyter, a former CEO of packaging company Nampak Ltd., became Eskom's 13th CEO in a decade almost three years ago. He sought to get the utility to produce more green energy as its old coal-burning plants are taken offline and he challenged tariff decisions made by the energy regulator, saying the company needed to charge more to cover its costs..While his appointment and attempts to clean up a utility that became synonymous with corruption during former President Jacob Zuma's presidency were viewed as positive by the market, he struggled to turn its finances and performance around. .He also ran into political opposition, especially from Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe who said he was unsuited for the job. Africa's most-industrialized economy has been subjected to a record 188 days of power outages this year, mainly due to unexpected breakdowns at Eskom's plants.."While this is a blow, it is hardly surprising, given the irresponsible comments by some in government and some other sectors," Cas Coovadia, the CEO of lobby group Business Unity South Africa said in a statement. "The Eskom board must act with urgency to announce a replacement" who has the capability to reduce power cuts, accelerate Eskom's restructuring, tackle ongoing corruption and sabotage and diversify energy generation, he said..The National Treasury said in October's budget update that the government may shift between one-third and two-thirds of the power company's debt of about 400 billion rand ($23 billion) onto its own balance sheet. Details including the amount and terms of the transfer are expected to be announced in February's budget..All Eskom programs will continue because business continuity was of primary importance, said Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who oversees the utility. "Andre has carried an enormous burden on behalf of South Africa. I want to thank him for his sacrifice and resilience in a difficult job." .–With assistance from Monique Vanek, Colleen Goko, Loni Prinsloo, Thomas Hall and Rene Vollgraaff..© 2022 Bloomberg L.P..Solidarity media release.De Ruyter – the wrong person resigned.The resignation of André de Ruyter will deepen the Eskom crisis and will not alleviate it. The wrong person resigned..The problem at Eskom is not the CEO's operational will but the government's political will. The best person in the country can be appointed to the position but the current political dispensation makes it an impossible task for the person..The politicians looked for a scapegoat to hide their own incompetence and exerted incredible pressure on De Ruyter. Instead of doing the right thing, the politicians sacrificed De Ruyter for the sake of their politics..De Ruyter stood on the oxygen line feeding corruption. Those who want to loot more exerted the most pressure for him to resign. Bigger corruption post De Ruyter is a real danger..Drastic political changes are called for. The current government and the ministers involved do not have the ability to bring about the political changes that are required..The following are critical changes that are needed:.All statutory restrictions that are limiting power generation both within and outside Eskom must be removed.There must be incentives for private power generators.Skills as a criterion for appointment and promotion must be reintroduced without racial bias.Saboteurs and criminals must be prosecuted actively.New capacity needs to be created.Capacity must be created to undertake preventative maintenance..Almost all of these changes require political will. The government's political is gone. The current political dispensation is the an obstacle for Eskom's turnaround, and it is political heads that must roll.

De Ruyter resigns from Eskom after public attacks

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