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The Chief executive of South Africa’s Eskom, the power utility, has resigned amid high nationwide power blackouts of up to 10 hours daily. The resignation of Andre de Ruyter comes amid pressure from the public and various stakeholders.
The Chief executive of South Africa’s Eskom, the power utility, has resigned amid high nationwide power blackouts of up to 10 hours daily. The resignation of Andre de Ruyter comes amid pressure from the public and various stakeholders. Eskom has plunged South Africa into darkness because of its frequent power cuts mainly due to its aging coal-fired plants, which required constant maintenance.
Eskom confirmed De Ruyter’s resignation and said that he would stay on until March 31 to ensure continuity while the hunt for his successor would be taken on a war footing. Efforts of the outgoing CEO have yielded little results because of the resistance of the worker’s unions to laying off workers and efforts to modernize plants due to protests from workers.
South Africa has had rolling power cuts for years, particularly in recent weeks. The situation has become serious with power cuts of up to 10 hours per day. The ongoing mechanical breakdowns at the country’s ageing coal-fired power stations and backlogs in their maintenance led to even longer power cuts that may last 12 to 14 hours per day. De Ruyter has recently faced criticism from Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
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The country’s failure to secure a stable power supply has been one of the vexing challenges to President Cyril Ramaphosa. It is expected to be one of the key issues at the upcoming national conference of the ruling African National Congress. De Ruyter was appointed Eskom’s chief executive in December 2019 following years of power cuts and wide-ranging allegations of corruption at the utility.
