André de Ruyter. PHOTO | COURTESY
Summary
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Andre de
Ruyter had come under pressure from some government ministers who accused the
company of not properly attending to the crisis, which analysts say is the
result of years of mismanagement, disrepair and corruption.
Johannesburg,
The outgoing CEO of South Africa's beleaguered state-owned power utility, who was due to leave the
company next month, has left with immediate effect, Eskom said on Wednesday, amid a worsening energy crisis.Andre de Ruyter, who took over as
CEO in 2020, resigned in December but was due to vacate office at the end of
March to give Eskom time to find a successor.
But the firm's board resolved on
Wednesday that he "will not be required to serve the balance of his notice
period" and "will be released from his position with immediate
effect", a company statement said.
The shock announcement came just
hours after De Ruyter gave an interview with local eNCA television, where he
expressed doubts about the political will in government to end endemic graft at
the power utility.
De Ruyter has said he suffered an
attempted poisoning attempt in December, shortly after he tendered his
resignation.
He told local media that he drank
coffee laced with cyanide. A police investigation is ongoing.
Africa's most industrialised country
has laboured under crippling power shortages as Eskom fails to keep pace with
demand and maintain its ageing coal power infrastructure.
But the outages have reached new
extremes, with the country experiencing a record 207 days of power outages last
year alone, compared to 75 days in 2021.
The power cuts have hampered
economic growth, disrupting commerce and industry, with lights often going off
several times a day for up to 12 hours.
De Ruyter had come under pressure
from some government ministers who accused the company of not properly
attending to the crisis, which analysts say is the result of years of mismanagement,
disrepair and corruption.
Earlier this month, President Cyril
Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster and the appointment of an
electricity minister to try intensify the response to the crisis.
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