Numsa: Eskom must fire De Ruyter for the sake of the economy

A new report by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report shows the rolling blackouts implemented by Eskom last year have been the worst to hit the country since 2015.

According to the report, the country experienced loadshedding for 650 hours in the first half of 2021.

This was under De Ruyter’s leadership.

Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says this was under De Ruyter’s leadership, which is proof he lacks the capacity to stop load shedding.

“There is no way our economy can be expected to recover if we do not urgently fix this situation right now. The facts speak for themselves – Andre De Ruyter is clueless about what is needed to stabilize the grid and guarantee energy supply.

“We need a GCEO who understands the basics of electricity generation for the sake of the economy and for the sake of the future of Eskom. Hundreds of workers are getting retrenched from companies every day because Andre De Ruyter lacks the ability to stop load shedding. We therefore repeat our demand for De Ruyter to be removed and replaced with someone else who is more capable.”

She says the union believes De Ruyter’s is hurting the country’s economic growth.

“The growth of our economy and our energy security is being threatened by a single individual. De Ruyter is not bigger than Eskom, or the economy, so why is the board, and by extension, government the shareholder, seemingly so determined to keep him on when he does not know what he is doing?

“For the sake of our economic development as a country, it is time for the board of Eskom to do the right thing and fire him.”

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