The embattled state-owned electricity utility, Eskom, has a new boss in Andre de Ruyter, CEO of packaging company Nampak.
De Ruyter will take over from the middle of January. The position is currently vacant following the departure earlier this year of Phakamani Hadebe, who cited ‘unimaginable demands’.
Eskom faces serious difficulties and has a debt load of about R450 billion. The utility is vital to South Africa’s well-being, as it supplies most of the country’s electricity. Its failure would have dire consequences for the country.
The reaction to De Ruyter’s appointment was mixed. The African National Congress and Democratic Alliance both released statements welcoming the new CEO. However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – in a predictably racially charged statement – criticized Eskom.
According to the overall-wearing revolutionaries, De Ruyter’s appointment was ‘anti-transformation and racist’. They also said that it was part of a plan to hasten the collapse of the utility so as to privatise it. The EFF added that the appointment was proof that Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan did not believe black South Africans could ‘manage and build complex institutions’.