EFF statement on Andre de Ruyter’s resignation as Eskom CEO
14 December 2022
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the long overdue resignation of the incompetent, arrogant, and useless André de Ruyter as Eskom Chief Executive Officer. De Ruyter was never qualified to be appointed Eskom CEO and should have never been appointed. The EFF maintains that his appointment was imposed by Pravin Gordhan because of his insensible and misguided belief in underqualified and incompetent people who don't have a track record of successfully running and managing complex institutions.
Since his appointment as Eskom CEO, De Ruyter has been hellbent on collapsing the energy utility's generation capacity. He went around conferences and workshops to champion independent power producers as though he were a sales rmascot hired by banks that poured money into renewable projects. He found Eskom Medupi and Kusile build projects at an advanced stage with challenges that could have been resolved to bring them online far quicker, but he failed to complete these projects.
Under De Ruyter, South Africa has experienced the most devastating loadshedding that continues to suffocate the economy and livelihoods. It is reported that in less than three years under de Ruyter's tenure, South Africans have endured more than 4 000 hours of loadshedding. While failing to keep the lights on, Eskom burnt more than 571 million litres of diesel at a cost of more than R6 billion in the first 5 months of the year 2022. This is more than what Eskom spent the whole of 2016/2017. As if this is not enough, Eskom want R20 billion from government to buy diesel.
The resignation of De Ruyter is an opportunity to appoint a competent and qualified chief executive officer who will prioritize Eskom's primary mandate to generate and distribute dependable and affordable electricity. South Africa's economy needs urgent, practical, and implementable interventions, which, without a reliable electricity supply, will be impossible to implement.
Since his appointment as Eskom CEO, he has focused on reducing the price of milk used by employees and the procurement of brooms and mops, while deliberately collapsing and sabotaging Eskom's generation and maintenance units.
The EFF is more concerned that the closure of Eskom's coal-fired power stations, such as Komati Power Station, was motivated by greed as part of a clandestine scheme to usher in independent power producers. The rush to decommission power stations was a mandate given to South Africa to stop using coal by Western imperialist thugs who prioritise their profit interests at all costs, including human lives. What is more disturbing is that within the short space of time that De Ruyter has been at the helm of Eskom, he has been able to sell the utility's assets, and much of it would have been at a fraction of their true value.
De Ruyter has successfully evaded vetting by the State Security Agency. All the corruption that happened since his appointment, including the so-called incorrect and unlawful payments to four of the contractors who received more than R4 billion, could have benefited him.
We call on the law enforcement agencies to take seriously the investigations relating to corruption at Eskom in the past three years.
The EFF demands that De Ruyter resign without any negotiated settlement or handshake, and furthermore he must resign NOW, not 2023.
He didn't qualify for the position in the first place, and all the money paid to him must be considered benefits of white privilege. We further call for the immediate resignation of Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer. We are aware that with Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Public Enterprises, there is very little hope for Eskom unless a strong, competent, and technically experienced chief executive who can refuse to be a puppet of Gordhan is appointed.
The EFF further calls for the suspension of all load-shedding with immediate effect and the restoration of electricity to all households and business premises. The government must take drastic and needed measures, regardless of the cost, to end electricity blackouts with immediate effect.
Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 15 December 2022
