The appointment of Andre de Ruyter as CEO of Eskom is a confirmation of the deep route of white privilege in South Africa’s boardroom
19 November 2019
The ANC National Youth Task Team is alarmed at the blatant disregard for skills and experience in the process of appointing the ESKOM CEO. The appointment of De Ruyter, with his long history of eroding shareholder value in major corporations, can only be explained in the darker corners of cronyism which seem to be perpetuated by the Minister of Public Enterprises and confirms that white privilege remains the order of the day in South African boardrooms. A black candidate with De Ruyter's track record would have never been allowed anywhere near the shortlist let alone been appointed as CEO of this important but ailing entity.
De Ruyter's dismal track record at Sasol and Nampak makes it inconceivable that he should be elevated to salvage this struggling SOE. There exists no sound basis for such an appointment unless the Minister is committed to collapsing Eskom completely.
Last month we witnessed the resignation of the joint CEO's at Sasol, Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell, following the disaster of a project at Lake Charles. The Lake Charles saga was engineered by De Ruyter.
A damning independent review reveals why Sasol's US project has run so far over time and over budget. The cost of the Lake Charles Chemicals Proiect (LCCP) has almost
doubled to about R12.9 billion since inception and the project has been hit by multiple technical problems, all of which De Ruyter ensured never made it to his executives after which he jumped ship to collapse Nampak, leaving Nqwababa and Cornell to shoulder his mess.
If there is truth to the allegations that De Ruyter is well known for his creative reporting and cooking of the books, then we must brace ourselves for a larger scandal than the catastrophe which happened with Steinhoff. The real problem is that the Minister has now given him an opportunity to erode shareholder value that belongs to the public and the many taxpayers who work hard to keep Eskom afloat.
Furthermore, the active disregard of the many talented women or black candidates in this process confirms the gender and racial bias that characterises South African boardrooms. Our government has once again missed an opportunity to advance gender and racial equality in its decision to ignore the many capable women and black candidates who posses the necessary skills and experience to run Eskom and assist the entity to overcome its challenges. De Ruyter's appointment is nothing more than a race to the bottom and the ANC N YTT rejects this appointment as dirty cronyism and blatant white privilege.
Issued by Tandi Mahambehlala, ANC NYTT Convener, 19 November 2019
