Page 6 - AfrElec Week 09 2023

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

in your name, obviously a lifestyle audit will pick “De Ruyter was appointed strictly to lead the
it up,” De Ruyter said. turnaround of Eskom into a functional public
The former CEO’s focus on going after the enterprise that provides the country with stable,
criminal elements within and around Eskom reliable electricity. The question of whether the
resulted in mineral resources and energy minis- national energy utility is state-owned or not was
ter Gwede Mantashe calling him a “policeman”, not part of his contract,” Mbalula stated.
who was more focused on chasing criminals Eskom board chair Mpho Makwana said
than ending the load shedding crisis, writes Andre de Ruyter should have reported the
BusinessTech. ‘corrupt minister’ to the police, and he never
raised corruption allegations, reports another
JET opposition local media outlet Independent Online (IOL).
During his time at Eskom, De Ruyter has placed The South African Federation of Trade Unions
much of his focus and energy on promoting a (SAFTU) said it was planning to lay charges
move towards renewable energy. “There is very against De Ruyter for not revealing the name of
little explanation for the vociferous opposition to the MP he mentioned in his interview.
the Just Energy Transition [JET],” he told Larsen. The business community has expressed
De Ruyter said decarbonisation was an concern about the bad impression De Ruyter’s
essential part of protecting South Africa’s envi- mismanaged exit will have on investor confi-
ronment, growing its economy, addressing dence, writes IOL. Business Unity South Afri-
energy security, and creating employment. Yet ca’s (BUSA’s) CEO Cas Coovadia said they were KEY FACTS:
even though the shift away from coal would be in the process of engaging relevant people to • Serious allegations:
a decades-long journey, various stakeholders understand the situation before they made pub- • Rampant crime
were vigorously opposed to the JET. He came to lic comments. “We would prefer to comment • Entrenched corruption
the conclusion that the many vested interests in after that, instead of doing so on the basis of the • Coal cartels
the coal value chain were to blame for the fierce interview with André and responses from some • Sabotage
resistance. in government,” Coovadia was cited by IOL as • Theft
“It is mystifying [because] you can solve saying. • Corrupt contracts
the energy crisis in the shortest possible time This comes after Minister in the Presidency • Political interference
through wind and solar. 50% of South Africa’s Mondli Gungubele said De Ruyter needed to • Police inadequacy
exports are at risk of SA carbon border tax, and produce evidence to support his claims that • JET opposition
I have had calls from manufacturers asking ‘do government officials benefited financially from • Energy crisis
you have green energy available because we are Eskom. • Crumbling
going to lose market share.’ The lack of response “I find that, unless he can demonstrate evi- infrastructure
from government I find quite puzzling, given the dence, this is insulting. This president, since he • Rolling power outages
huge risk to our exporters,” De Ruyter said. came in, had the key objective of making sure • Poor maintenance
“If we implement our plan to retire 22 giga- that the Zondo Commission worked,” Gun- • State of disaster
watts of coal-fired capacity -- about 47% of our gubele said (referring to a common name for the
installed capacity -- by 2035, we will release back Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations
into the Vaal River system about 40 billion litres of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the
of water per annum; that is enough water to pro- Public Sector including Organs of State).
vide 220 litres of water per day to 200 million “Zondo gave Eskom all the evidence, and
people -- more than three times the population that still needs to be followed. He knows that the
of South Africa,” he told Larsen. ANC government is committed to cleaning up
the government,” he added.
Meanwhile, energy experts have warned
You can solve The fallout that the space left behind by De Ruyter’s exit
Mantashe and other senior ANC officials in gov-
the energy crisis ernment have taken an alarmingly antagonistic – and the looming exit of other senior exec-
in the shortest approach to de Ruyter, writes BusinessTech. In utives at Eskom – leave the company open to
December 2022, the energy minister even went be filled with more political appointees, writes
possible time as far as accusing him of treason. Mantashe, a BusinessTech.
former mining union leader, said that Eskom’s
As for André de Ruyter, he plans to spend
through wind and management was trying to overthrow the state some time abroad and concentrate on his fam-
ily, which, he said, would be good for his health.
by not resolving load shedding.
solar. The ANC addressed allegations made by De De Ruyter is still recovering from the attempt
Ruyter in his interview to eNCA during a post- on his life in December when he was served poi-
Andrè de Ruyter budget briefing on Thursday (23 February), soned coffee, in his personalised mug, at Eskom’s
Former CEO, reports BusinessTech. head office. The policemen sent to investigate his
Eskom ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula poisoning were so inept they confused a dose of
rejected the allegations, calling them “irrespon- cyanide with a sinus complaint.
sible,” and “baseless”, and accused De Ruyter of “That poisoning attempt, indicative of the
trying to distract from his own failings at Eskom willingness of those he opposes to eliminate him,
and taking an opportunistic “venture” into the would have a lesser man on the first flight out
political space. of the country. That the life of De Ruyter is in
In doing so, he “unmasked his regressive danger is beyond debate,” said Paul Hoffman, a
political and ideological agenda”, Mbalula said as director of Accountability Now.
quoted by BusinessTech, adding that De Ruyter De Ruyter leaves just one message to his suc-
was advertising “right-wing ideology”. cessor: “Don’t have a personalised mug.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 01•March•2023