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Andre de Ruyter, CEO of Eskom, in January 2020.
Gallo Images / Business Day / Freddy Mavunda
- Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says work is underway to return the power company to the world-class institution it once was.
- Part of this involves instilling responsibility, which has seen him part ways with various employees.
- De Ruyter says similarly, elected officials in municipalities should be responsible for paying their bills to the utility company.
Not holding people to account opens the door to “free for all,” and that’s why Eskom has parted ways with several employees, said the energy company’s CEO Andre de Ruyter.
De Ruyter spoke Friday at a fundraising event organized by the South African National Publishers Forum (Sanef).
The energy company, along with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), earlier this year filed a civil lawsuit to recover R3.8 billion from former Eskom officials for violating their fiduciary duties by allowing the energy company to suffer. losses as funds were channeled to the Gupta Family, under their watch.
Commenting on the matter, De Ruyter said that civil claims were far better than criminal cases as the “wheels of the criminal justice system” turn slowly.
In an effort to establish a culture of responsibility in the organization, Eskom has laid off 30 top executives and managers and “laid off hundreds more people,” De Ruyter said.
“The sad part is that as a consequence of the capture of the state, an institution as important as Eskom has been largely emptied,” he said. This is reflected in the poor maintenance of the power plants and the growing debt of the municipalities, he explained.
However, he assured that work is underway to restore Eskom to the world-class institution it was more than a decade ago. Eskom was the world’s leading global utility company in 2001, he said. “That is the mountain we have to climb.”
He said that part of the accountability project was to get municipalities to pay their outstanding debts, now more than R34 billion. Eskom has had to cut the electricity supply to some cities. For some, it is nine hours a day. Unfortunately, this has contributed to poor service delivery. In others, Eskom has had to attach bank accounts and mobile assets such as vehicles. De Ruyter said that without this “assertive approach” it will be difficult to get the attention of elected officials who are responsible for paying the bills.
Political interference
De Ruyter also commented that he has not experienced political interference, particularly from Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. “Maybe SAA has helped a bit,” he joked. Gordhan’s department also oversees the airline, which is currently under commercial rescue.
“I think I have really been given the freedom to do what I think is best from a business perspective, in conjunction with the Eskom board,” he said. De Ruyter has not been under pressure to appoint certain people to certain positions, or to award contracts to certain vendors.
He commented that Eskom has been supported by Vice President David Mabuza, who leads Eskom’s task force. “He’s a tough foreman,” added De Ruyter.
Speaking about Eskom’s growing debt burden, De Ruyter emphasized that it should become financially sustainable as it is now approaching half a trillion rand. “It is a challenge that we are committed to at this time.”
While Eskom has received fiscal support, De Ruyter said this takes money away from other key national priorities of food schemes, roads and hospitals. He said the only way forward is for Eskom to be able to charge fees that reflect costs.
In terms of victories, Eskom has had 40 days without having to burn diesel to keep the lights on, while maintaining much-needed plants. Diesel costs Eskom around R10 million per hour, De Ruyter said.
He added that Medupi is on track to be fully operational in the first quarter of next year as design flaws are addressed. A similar process is underway at Kusile.
