A Dark Road Ahead

"Many hoped André de Ruyter’s appointment as Eskom CEO meant light at the end of the tunnel. But two years later the power utility is still grappling with maintenance issues, massive debt and a culture of corruption"

- By Carla Coetzee

Well, well , what do you know. We managed to make it through the first month of the year but then – bam – it was back on 2 February.

Hello, darkness, our old friend. Here we go again. Break out the candles. Charge the phones. There’s no light at the end of this tunnel just yet.

It’s hard to believe that in 2001 Eskom received a prestigious international prize at the Financial Times Global Energy Awards. But seven years later the first wave of loadshedding hit – and since then it’s become as much of a certainty to South Africans as death and taxes.

Some were hopeful when André de Ruyter was appointed Eskom CEO in January 2020 – he had a proven track record in the coal industry and had been executive head of Sasol.

But De Ruyter, the 12th head of the ailing state-owned enterprise (SOE) in 12 years, inherited a toxic cocktail of problems: ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, lack of skills, bankruptcy, deep-seated corruption and political interference.

And two years down the line things are no better. As another year of loadshedding looms large, we turn the spotlight on De Ruyter’s tenure, the challenges he faces and any progress that’s been made during his two years in what must be one of the worst jobs in the country.

THE MAINTENANCE NIGHTMARE