After months of speculation and delays, South Africa named André de Ruyter as CEO of its debt-crippled state power utility, surprising investors with an unexpected choice and angering a key union.
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Andre de Ruyter has been appointed as CEO of Eskom, the debt-strapped utility that provides about 95% of the nation’s electricity and poses the biggest threat to its economy.
South African municipalities’ inability to provide consistent power is exacerbating supply disruptions by the debt-stricken state electricity utility, hobbling efforts to revive the nation’s economy.
The Post Office is cutting several hundred jobs, the second state-owned company in as many days to detail plans to lay off workers as the government looks to slash its wage bill.
While the government pledged to name a new head of Eskom by the end of October, it’s missed repeated deadlines to act, evidence of how politically fraught the process has been.
Eskom has warned that the supply of electricity remains constrained, with a probability of load shedding all week.
France is weighing providing financial support to South Africa’s indebted utility Eskom, according to a newspaper report at the weekend.
The power-supply situation in South Africa has taken a sudden turn for the worse, with Eskom said on Thursday evening saying it plans to implement overnight stage-2 load shedding from 10pm to 5am on Friday.
Eskom said it is disappointed by the decision as the current board and management “have worked painstakingly hard to try and resolve corporate governance issues of the past regime”.
Eskom warned on Monday night that forced blackouts could return at short notice due to the “unexpected loss of some generation units over the weekend”.