Andre de Ruyter - The African Mirror

May

2023

Corruption in South Africa: former CEO’s explosive book exposes how state power utility was destroyed

ONE repeated theme of the memoir Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, by Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of South Africa’s troubled power utility, Eskom, is that “negligence and carelessness had become cemented into the organisation”. Dirt piled up at even the newest power stations until it damaged equipment, which stopped working – and some equipment disappeared beneath a layer of ash. Integrity had been displaced by greed and crime: Corruption had metastasised to permeate much of the organisation. As a political scientist who has, among other topics, followed corruption and kleptocracy, this book ranks among the more…

Apr

2023

By CARIEN DU PLESSIS

S.Africa’s Eskom losing well over $55 million a month through theft, ex-CEO says

NEWS

SOUTH African state power firm Eskom loses well over 1 billion rands ($55 million) a month from theft, its former chief executive told parliament, saying a previous estimate he gave was conservative. Andre de Ruyter made the comments in a written submission to parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) seen by Reuters, following an interview to local news channel eNCA in February where he made sweeping corruption allegations without detailed evidence against Eskom and South Africa's governing African National Congress. Shortly after the interview aired Eskom announced de Ruyter would leave his job immediately, cutting short a notice period he was serving after…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Eskom CEO quits: why finding a new head for South Africa’s struggling power utility won’t end the blackouts

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FOR a multitude of reasons, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s resignation is a huge setback for the state-owned power utility and South Africa. It comes at a time when the utility, which produces 95% of the electricity used in the country, needs stable leadership. Stability is critical for success in the three key transitions Eskom needs to navigate. It needs to turn back the tide of state capture, and deliver a reliable electricity supply. It must reorganise the group into generation, distribution and transmission, and it must reduce its carbon footprint. Author DAVID RICHARD WALWYN, Professor of Technology Management, University…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

End of power cut for SA

NEWS

ROLLING power cuts in South Africa should come to an end by the end of next week as more power generation units come online, the chief executive of state power utility Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, said. Last month Eskom started implementing so-called "Stage 6" power cuts - or load shedding - for only the second time in its history, meaning most South Africans were without power for at least six hours a day. The level of the outages has since been lowered, with Stage 2, 3 and 4 power cuts at different times this week. Eskom has blamed the outages…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Eskom CEO says he briefed South African president on power crisis

NEWS

THE chief executive of South Africa's state power utility Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, said that he had personally briefed President Cyril Ramaphosa on an ongoing electricity crisis. Eskom has implemented the worst power cuts the country has seen in more than two years this week. It has blamed the outages on striking workers hampering efforts to bring faulty generation units back online. "We fully briefed the president on the situation. ... We discussed a number of potential options," de Ruyter told a news conference, refusing to divulge what was discussed. The meetings with the president included Public Enterprises Minister Pravin…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Eskom CEO sees end to crisis in shift from coal

NEWS

ALEXANDER WINNING SOUTH African state power utility Eskom sees an opportunity to emerge from years of crisis by shifting from coal-fired power generation towards natural gas and renewables, its chief executive told Reuters. Eskom has implemented power cuts for more than a decade in Africa's most industrialised nation that have held back economic growth and deterred investment. It has roughly 400 billion rands ($25 billion) of debt that it services through regular government bailouts. "From the crisis that Eskom currently finds itself in – very poor plant performance, excessive debt – this contains the opportunity for us to really act…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

SA’s Eskom cleared CEO of racism

NEWS

A senior lawyer appointed by the board of South Africa's Eskom to look into allegations of racism levelled against the CEO of the state-owned power utility found no evidence to support the claims, the board has said. Senior advocate Ishmael Semenya found "no substantiation for the allegation that the Group Chief Executive has conducted himself in any manner that would amount to racist practice," the board said in a statement posted on Twitter. The allegation against CEO Andre de Ruyter was made by the company's former Chief Procurement Officer Solly Tshitangano. Following the allegations, Eskom's board of directors in March…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Eskom CEO to be probed for racism

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's struggling state utility Eskom today announced that its board of directors would investigate an allegation of racism levelled against Chief Executive Andre de Ruyter. De Ruyter has been leading efforts to improve Eskom's financial and operational performance for more than a year. The allegation against de Ruyter was made by suspended Chief Procurement Officer Solly Tshitangano and raised at a parliamentary committee meeting last week, after which Eskom's board issued a statement in support of the company's executive management. Reuters sought comment from de Ruyter via Eskom's spokesman. The spokesman said de Ruyter had never been accused of…