Former Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter.
As South Africans we are increasingly, and rightly so, running out of patience with the complete and utter failure of those at Megawatt Park to keep our lights on. To the dismay of many, it is either wet coal conditions, sabotage by faceless individuals, workers or poor turbines that are always blamed when De Ruyter opens his mouth to announce yet another decision to put our lights off.
According to De Ruyter, the management of Eskom is hard at work to fix the problem; the output is however an increase in energy conservation through load-shedding. Whilst the Megawatt fellows are busy with their antics, the country, particularly the youth and especially the poor youth, are suffering immeasurable repercussions.
From a learner’s inability to do their school work in the darkness, to a youth owned small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) losing revenue, as instability of the grid plunges businesses into crisis and with basic municipal services not spared the wrath of electricity cuts, we are all at the mercy of a power utility in crisis.
The shortage in electricity has also disrupted water supplies in many communities. Most rural communities relying on boreholes for water have been left stranded as energy supplies do not match the need for water supply. In essence, the continuous and unabated load-shedding is also leading to poor hygiene conditions, leading to diseases and by implication, increasing the burden on an already heavily burdened healthcare system.
In an attempt to deal with the challenge of theft of critical infrastructure and the alleged sabotage (De Ruyter claimed in November 2021 that there were coordinated attempts to undermine him), Eskom has had to deploy over R48-million of its resources. In January this year, Eskom claimed that this expenditure is yielding some results. However, we are yet to see the yields of these claims which are funded by our tax contributions. Instead, we are subjected to more and more excuses.
The failure to adequately service Eskom infrastructure and secure a healthy and consistent supply of products critical to our power supply, such as coal, has meant that Eskom operations in KwaZulu-Natal have been left vulnerable and ultimately easy to disrupt by the two recent episodes of flooding in the province. This led to the power utility announcing in April that South Africa was most likely to go through 100 days of load-shedding all through winter to “manage” the growing crisis; this means that by the time winter is over, many parts of South Africa will have cumulatively gone without power for over 1000 hours.
Whilst it is a fact that the problems at Eskom pre-date the arrival of De Ruyter at Megawatt Park in January 2020, it is De Ruyter who is at the helm of the power utility meant to keep our lights on. De Ruyter was sold to South Africans as the saviour of Eskom because he has a career spanning over 30 years (which has supposedly seen him amass experience both locally and internationally in the energy industry).
Going through his bio, De Ruyter undoubtedly becomes a candidate worth considering for the top job at Eskom, and so that begs the question, why is he increasingly struggling to turn the fortunes of the power utility around? While his competence, suitability for the job, and excuses continue to be a matter of public debate, we must look at the consequences of the mismanagement of Eskom by De Ruyter and his predecessors.
De Ruyter’s tenure at Eskom also came with a “trust fund” enjoyed by white executives in South Africa. While he and his executive team are given chance after chance by our media to give two-hour long briefings filled with a whole lot of nothingness carried as media headlines, had he been a black man, the narrative would have been far different – and one only has to compare the last five chief executives to come to that conclusion.
He has also displayed a careless attitude which seeks to suggest he is in fact doing us a favour as a nation by heading up the utility. Comments such as “even if I were to resign, load-shedding would continue” demonstrates his lack of compassion and appreciation of the deep frustration South Africans face every time the lights go off.
Then you have an Eskom board which was ushered in as a break from an era of maladministration, corruption and state capture following the parliamentary inquiry into Eskom. To the utter dismay of many, board members such as Busisiwe Mavuso continue to behave like lobbyists for private interests instead of carrying out their fiduciary duty. Mavuso and some of her colleagues have on a number of occasions displayed complete arrogance and a refusal to be held accountable by parliamentary oversight bodies, including the standing committee on public accounts while their conduct is treated with kid gloves.
One cannot absolve the political authorities in the mess we see playing out at Eskom. At the bare minimum, the executive authority, the minister of public enterprises, should have addressed the public by now on measures taken to arrest the situation. It cannot be that the country has experienced rolling blackouts since the beginning of winter and we have only seen Minister Pravin Gordhan on television once. And no, the poorly crafted statements from the ministry simply do not cut it.
We have no shortage of diagnoses in the public discourse arena as far as Eskom issues are concerned. We have heard the claims of sabotage. We know about the subpar quality of the coal supply. We know about the Russia – Ukraine war that has been ongoing for months. We know about the KwaZulu-Natal floods. We know about cable theft and illegal connections. We know about the municipalities with bills that are in areas such as the City of Tshwane who pride themselves with switching off the lights of poor residents while they owe Eskom R878-million.
However, we as ordinary South Africans do not know how to fix the power crisis we are faced with, and that is why “professionals” like De Ruyter are brought in; they are brought in because they ought to fix these problems and turn the power utility around. Four years with the current board and two years with the current chief executive, the situation continues to deteriorate. The board and the executive must vacate those positions and make room for those who can get the job done.
As a country, we have never had the luxury of an indefinite trial-and-error process to turn Eskom around, and this is evidenced by the many executive departures from the utility. A failing De Ruyter and the current board must be no exception.
Nonceba Mhlauli is the national convener of the ANC Youth League.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.