Sunday Times reports that as SA was again plunged to stage 6 load-shedding last week, pressure mounted on Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom board to take action against CEO André de Ruyter.
The ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Friday heard calls from some of its members that De Ruyter should be shown the door. The charge against De Ruyter was apparently led by ANC Limpopo provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe. But no decision was taken by the meeting on the matter. Earlier in the week, Department of Mineral Resources & Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe accused Eskom of agitating for regime change by implementing the power cuts. But on Saturday, President Cyril Ramaphosa came to De Ruyter’s defence, telling reporters that Eskom management was not deliberately causing load-shedding. Gordhan briefed the ANC NEC about plans to end load-shedding and told the meeting about cases of sabotage and theft. But not everyone was satisfied with Gordhan’s presentation. “We wanted them to come with a solid solution. From what we have had from De Ruyter, there is no solution. Every time he talks, he threatens us about stage 8. That is not a solution,” said an NEC member. According to government insiders, Gordhan is losing patience with the Eskom executives. An official privy to discussions between the government and Eskom executives said it was now up to the board to take a decision on De Ruyter. “They don’t seem to care. We had a meeting. They don’t seem to have a sense of what is happening in the country. They are complaining about money. They are tone deaf. They live in their own world,” he commented.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Graeme Hosken, Andisiwe Makinana, Thabo Mokone & Tankiso Makheta at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Eskom an ‘anti-black institution under De Ruyter’, at Sunday Independent
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page