Andre de Ruyter, thennchief executive officer of Nampak Ltd. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images In a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon, the Eskom board was emphatic in its support of the GCE, who was brought in to steer the Titanic that is the power utility before it crashes and drags the South African economy down with it.
“Racism allegations about Eskom CEO rubbished by senior counsel finding. The use of the race card without foundation, merit or substance has no place at Eskom!” reads the statement’s fairly unsubtle headline.
Advocate Ishmael Semenya was appointed by the board to investigate allegations made against De Ruyter by Eskom’s former chief procurement officer Solly Tshitangano, who was recently dismissed in a separate disciplinary hearing regarding poor performance.
The board quoted the advocate’s findings as follows:
“Having had all the evidence, and considered all the documents, I could find no substantiation for the allegation that the GCE has conducted himself in any manner that would amount to racist practice.
“I could also find no substantiation of poor governance on the part of the GCE or Eskom. There was no substantiation for the allegation that the recruitment processes were irregular.
“The claim that the procurement processes were unlawful is also without merit. I, accordingly, cannot find in Eskom, anyone guilty of any wrongdoing and would be making no recommendation to that effect.”
The statement went on to say that “the Eskom board today considered Adv Semenya’s report and had no hesitation in accepting it in its entirety”.
So ends the latest sordid chapter in the SOE’s equally sordid history.
Eskom’s board also noted “with serious concern, the emerging pattern that when Eskom employees are charged with poor performance and/or ill-discipline, there is a tendency for them to go public with wild and baseless claims”.
The message there is pretty clear: stop what the board regards as nonsense.
The clearing of racism allegations against De Ruyter comes against the backdrop of a deadlock in wage talks between Eskom and unions, which will now be mediated by the CCMA. Read here.
Eskom also managed to recently repay about a fifth of its debt, to R401-billion at the end of March, from R484-billion a year earlier. Read here.
On other fronts, the company is forging ahead with plans to split into three units – generation, transmission and distribution. This is also rubbing against the grain of labour opposition.
Meanwhile, load shedding continues apace as the first frosts of winter hit the Highveld, stifling economic growth, investment and job creation in the process. De Ruyter has cleared one big hurdle, but Eskom and the wider economy have many more in their path. DM/BM