Page 7 - AfrElec Week 11 2023

AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

Andre de Ruyter
Former CEO
Eskom

Eskom’s nationalisation triggered South

Africa’s energy crisis, ex-CEO says

SOUTH AFRICA FORMER chief executive of South Africa’s interview in which he outlined rampant crime,
power utility, Andre de Ruyter, has traced the theft and corruption at the struggling parastatal.
origins of an acute electricity shortage in the The court challenge by a political party, the
country to around 1998, when the entity became United Democratic Movement, and 17 oth-
state-owned. ers is against the declaration on February 9 by
After losing its independence, Eskom President Cyril Ramaphosa that the electricity
deferred investments into new generation capac- shortage comprised a state of disaster requiring
ity and maintenance of existing facilities lagged, extraordinary measures to tackle.
he said in a 153-page affidavit responding to a By rationing electricity, said de Ruyter,
court case challenging the constitutionality of a Eskom will be trying to prevent a total grid col-
recent government decision to declare the elec- lapse, which could take a long period to repair,
tricity crisis a state of disaster. and precipitate a range of impacts, including the
“Eskom was divested of its independent likelihood of civil unrest.
mandate and means to invest in new generation “Without wishing to sound alarmist, the Self-evidently, a
capacity after it was converted into a state-owned consequences of such a blackout would be cata-
enterprise,” he is quoted as saying by local paper strophic,” he noted in the court papers. blackout is a risk
Business Report. “Some of the likely impacts are identifiable
“With the building of new power stations from international experiences of extended that South Africa
delayed for over a decade, Eskom has had to run blackouts (such as the week-long blackout in
its ageing coal fleet at far higher usage levels than Venezuela in March 2019. They include the loss cannot afford to
accepted international industry practice and or interruption of water supply and sewerage take.
defer planned maintenance.” treatment; the shut down of telephone and inter-
Eskom, with a debt of about $24bn, is failing net services; rationing and shortages of liquid Andre de Ruyter
to supply enough electricity to drive the conti- fuel (petrol and diesel) with knock-on impacts Former CEO,
nent’s most-developed economy. As a result, it on transport, industry and institutions that Eskom
rations power, blacking out some areas for as depend on liquid fuel to run backup generators
long as 12 hours. The central bank estimates that, (including hospitals, laboratories, mortuaries);
if not addressed, South Africa could lose up to 2 digital platforms.”
percentage points in economic growth in 2023 Payment platforms could fail and food
and 0.7% in 2024 due to the electricity deficit. supplies impacted “and a high risk of looting,
De Ruyter assumed the Eskom post in vandalism and public unrest. Self-evidently, a
December 2019 but tendered his resignation on blackout is a risk that South Africa cannot afford
December 12, 2022. A day later, he drank coffee to take,” de Ruyter added in the affidavit
that was allegedly laced with cyanide. He was The case is set to be heard on March 20 in
supposed to serve notice to the end of March but the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria, the
left on February 22, following a wide-ranging administrative capital.™

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