Media reports in South Africa indicate that president Cyril Ramaphosa believes Esakom CEO Andre de Ruyter resigned because the job was tough.
The outgoing CEO, de Ruyter will serve in the role until the end of March 2023 as he tendered his resignation at the beginning of December last year.
According to News24, de Ruyter is leaving the power utility because “it’s a tough job” and Ramaphosa stressed that the government has a “cohesive” plan to resolve the national power shortage.
Ramaphosa said the government is not “sleeping on the job” with regard to the worst-ever power cuts the nation has experienced and he has spoken to his ministers about the need for a uniform approach to the problem.
The re-elected African National Congress president Ramaphosa spoke at a press event in Johannesburg on Monday but did not indicate when a new CEO would be appointed or when load shedding would ease.
At the same time, Ramaphosa announced that the energy department will take over responsibility for overseeing Eskom, which has been failing to meet the nation’s power demand since 2008.
The change will be in line with a resolution adopted by the ruling ANC at its national conference last week, which specified that state companies operating in specific economic sectors should be overseen by the relevant government departments.
“It is a clear mandate from the conference,” Ramaphosa told reporters at a media event in Johannesburg on Monday.
“The resolution will be implemented.”
The president also expressed concerns on the reports that de Ruyter was poisoned, saying he met the outgoing CEO and offered his support.
“I am concerned and as you correctly say, some of these people have been leading the charge against corruption and you can see it evokes reactions in some ways. I have no proof of that; that still needs to be verified,” he said.
“I should say that there are people who often come under threat and professor Buhlungu is one of those. He had a personal protector and the attack that was levelled against his protector could well have been aimed against him as well.
“I’ve met him with a number of other power station managers and given them our overwhelming support.
“I would say that a coin always has two sides — maybe three sides because there is a rim of the coin as well — one has to look at the totality of what anyone has to say.”
Eskom supplies more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity but the company has experienced an energy crisis because its old and poorly maintained plants can’t generate adequate power to meet demand.
