Chris Yelland: Joburg rejection of Eskom loadshedding shows others the way
The government has found itself in a corner with the energy crisis that Eskom has created. With billions of rand of Eskom debt it has to shoulder and with loadshedding reaching Stage 6 that even lead to mines shutting down; it finally relinquished its grip on power generation in the country and announced that the mines will be allowed to generate their own electricity without a license. But in the true spirit of that' Boer maak 'n plan' spirit that South Africans are known for; Johannesburg has come up with its own solution to loadshedding and while other citizens were counting the minutes until they could charge their devices, the city has announced it would not have the same loadshedding schedule as the rest of the country. In an interview with Alec Hogg, Chris Yelland sheds light on how the city managed that and gives his opinion of Eskom's new CEO and his challenges ahead. – Linda van Tilburg
Chris Yelland who attended the first briefing of new Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, Andre de Ruyter said he was "a very impressive personality" who managed to acquire knowledge of the industry in a rather short time. Although he has a background from his years at Sasol in industry and energy. But Yelland cautioned that this was not a one-man business and that there were 47,000 demoralised employees at Eskom who have to be re-motivated. South Africa, he said was in "the midst of a really severe energy crisis." It could be described as a "crucible" which Yelland said would hopefully bring out De Ruyter's leadership qualities and enable him to inspire his executive team, his board and the layers of management beneath the board and underneath the exco.
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