André De Ruyter and other Eskom officials gave an update on the state of the system as the country battled through stage 4 load shedding.
Eskom escalated load shedding from stage 2 to stage 4 due to unplanned breakdowns – this on top of a planned maintenance programme which involves removing units from the grid for longer periods of time.
De Ruyter’s comments came amid calls by the Black Business Council for De Ruyter’s resignation and that of the board. The National Union of Mineworkers – the largest union at the power utility – also called for the CEO’s resignation. Apex business organisation Business Unity South Africa, however, rejected these calls.
Commenting on the matter, De Ruyter said that Eskom’s executives serve at the pleasure and discretion of the board. If the board considers it appropriate for him and other executives to resign, then it is the board’s decision to make, he said.
“We have had no conversations in this regard so far, so I do not intend to resign of my own accord,” he said.
He referred to the expression of flogging a dead horse, and said that changing the jockey on a dead horse won’t really solve the problem.
“It is probably more important to have continuity of management, than to fall back in the trap Eskom has been in the past 10 years, when we had 11 different chief executives,” said De Ruyter.
“That lack of continuity has clearly contributed significantly to instability in the organisation,” he added.
He stressed that it is important to continue on the path taken. While there are frustrations, De Ruyter said these would not be resolved by “changing jockeys”.
Eskom intends to downgrade load shedding as more units return to service over the next few days, De Ruyter said.
A blackout in Zambia on Saturday had had a cascading effect on the Southern Africa Power Pool, of which South Africa is part.
By Wednesday at 06:00, a unit at Lethabo station is expected to return to service, followed by others at Kriel, Medupi, Duvha, Tutuka and Majuba later in the week.
“There should be between 3 800 MW and 4000 MW returned to the grid, which will have a positive impact on the outlook for load shedding going forward,” De Ruyter said.
Eskom will reduce load shedding to stage 3 on Wednesday, and then to stage 2 on Friday. It expects to lift load shedding on Saturday, he added.
Fin24
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