André de Ruyter has resigned as Eskom’s group chief executive. He notified board chairperson Mpho Makwana of his decision earlier this week, according to reports.
A barrage of public attacks on him led by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, along with Gordhan’s and Ramaphosa’s failure to publicly support him, led to this.
As recently as last week, Mantashe said Eskom was “actively agitating for the overthrow of the state”. Mantashe’s allegation was not responded to by Ramaphosa or Gordhan. They also did not offer support to De Ruyter and his management. It is understood that De Ruyter’s resignation could lead to the departure from Eskom of a number of other senior executives and engineers. Jan Oberholzer, De Ruyter’s number two and the chief operating officer, will also retire in April 2023.
South Africa has been gripped by worsening bouts of load shedding this year, with Stage 7 now within reach. Eskom has repeatedly said that the dire state of its aging coal fleet means that breakdowns will increase, and that maintenance cannot be postponed. The government has, however, dragged its feet to install additional generation capacity.
Despite Eskom’s regular briefings and detailed information about the deteriorating state of the nation’s electricity infrastructure, De Ruyter has been severely criticized for Eskom’s performance in recent months. A comment from De Ruyter could not be obtained at this time.