De Ruyter, energy war room: Cabinet makes Eskom top priority
The final Cabinet meeting of the year mandated Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to negotiate with Andre de Ruyter to take up his duties as the new Eskom chief executive earlier than the set date.
De Ruyter, currently chief executive of packaging firm Nampak, was set to take up the Eskom top job on January 15. Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu briefed journalists on Tuesday on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on December 13.
“The Cabinet fully supports all efforts meant to ensure electricity supply certainty in our country.
“In this regard, the Cabinet has mandated Gordhan to negotiate with De Ruyter to commence his duties earlier than the set date,” said Mthembu.
“De Ruyter, together with his management team, will immediately deal with the concerning issues of governance, lack of financial management as well as stabilising the operations at Eskom. This includes dealing with the huge backlog of maintenance of the ageing fleet of their power stations, and the structural defects in Medupi and Kusile power stations.”
Mthembu also announced that Deputy President David Mabuza would convene a resuscitated energy war room comprising Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Gordhan.
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