The light at the end of the Eskom tunnel has been switched off until further notice

Dylan Bettencourt

South Africans battling through a winter of load shedding discontent would not have been encouraged by the words of Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter on Wednesday.

De Ruyter, who was appointed the CEO of South Africa’s sole electricity provider in late 2019, said the utility still has a mountain to climb.

As he spoke, only one of Eskom’s 17 power stations was operating at full capacity. 

De Ruyter blamed the failure on a decade of poor management and ageing infrastructure.

Speaking to radio host Mandy Wiener on 702, he said: “I apologise to the nation for the hardship that we continue to inflict as a result of load shedding, but bear with us, we are working on this.”

Asked by Wiener whether load shedding was the result of maintenance, old power stations or poor management, De Ruyter said, “I think it’s a bit of all of the above to be frank.

“It’s a bit like a car that you haven’t maintained properly,” he continued. “And now that it’s breaking down, you really have to do a lot of work to catch up.”

On Wednesday, Eskom announced Stage 4 load shedding for the entire country from 2pm to 10pm. This is due to further breakdowns at Medupi power station, as well as two offline units at the Duvha power station.

South Africa will then revert to Stage 2 load shedding until Sunday 13 June, as previously announced by Eskom.

Weiner also addressed recent allegations of racism that have been levelled at De Ruyter. He was accused by Eskom’s former Chief Procurement Officer Solly Tshitangano of failing to comply with procurement and recruitment policies.

“People who know me and people who work with me will concur that I do not behave in a racist manner,” De Ruyter told the radio host.

However, following a lengthy review by the Eskom board, the allegations were dismissed as “baseless” and “bizarre,” and they cleared the CEO of any misconduct regarding the matter.

Image source: @TimesLIVE

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