Let us give credit where it’s due.
The current Eskom leadership team has restored hope that there is still something left of this powerful state-owned entity.
It’s hard to believe that the same Eskom that its former chief executive Andre de Ruyter characterised as a dead horse has not implemented load shedding since March 26.
The last time load shedding was suspended for over four months was more than four years ago, from March 16, 2020 to July 9, 2020, when there were no power cuts for 116 days.
De Ruyter himself must be in disbelief with how Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and the team at Eskom has managed to turn the situation around, we hope, in such a short space of time.
Ramokgopa’s remarks that the improvement in plant performance was reflected in the Energy Availability Factor, which was at 70.49% in week 30 of 2024, compared with only 49.99% in week 15 of 2023, are further proof of De Ruyter’s disastrous leadership.
He was not only a liability to Eskom but a waste of the country’s limited resources, while former Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan did all in his power to convince the public he was the right man for the job. How they were let free with handsome pensions boggles the mind.
The damage caused by load shedding can be seen in how South Africa’s economy took a knock with hundreds of big firms relocating their operations to countries where there was stable power supply and political will to ensure that business thrives.
The impact is evident in South Africa’s recent unemployment rate of 33.5% The damage caused at Eskom during De Ruyter’s time will take years to fix.
That Eskom has also achieved a R9.59 billion reduction in Open-Cycle Gas Turbines diesel expenditure from April to August 2024, compared to the same period last year is commendable.
Now Eskom must reveal which companies benefited from supplying diesel while De Ruyter was at the helm.
This will go a long way in regaining public trust that Eskom has lost.
If the energy displayed by the current team is anything to go by, then there is little doubt the problems at the power utility are not too big to be resolved, as we were once made to believe.
Cape Times