Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter has an impossible task. The top man at the country’s electricity provider has to turn around an organisation with over R400 billion in legacy debt, is embroiled in corruption and state capture, and desperately failing at meeting the electricity needs of the country.
But still, Eskom is in the best position it has been in in the last ten years. The debt has been reduced, savings have been made and tariffs more cost-effective and the bloated staff complement is being pegged back down to a more appropriate size.
This all while De Ruyter has faced two independent probes into his running of Eskom, one included allegations of racism and the other surrounding allegations he misled the board about a contract.
But as Business Day reports, government needs to make some tough decisions on Eskom, like getting municipalities to pay what they owe and the decision to split Eskom into three entities over the next 18 months will also be key.
At the moment Eskom only survives because of government bailouts but government will have to make tough calls in the near future if Eskom is to become a truly sustainable and viable business.
Turning to politics, the local government elections are scheduled for next month, pending the outcome of an IEC bid at the Constitutional Court to delay the elections until October. But what of the next presidential election?
Ferial Haffajee reports for Daily Maverick that Jacob Zuma’s favourite son Duduzane Zuma has been hitting the campaign trail trying to raise funds for his presidential bid. Most recently, Zuma was seen campaigning and fundraising in the wealthy Indian community of Laudium just outside of Pretoria.
Time will tell if we will have another Zuma in office in the future.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions and analyses:
Rob Rose writes about the over R91 million in pay that 13 Multichoice board members have received despite 64% of shareholders opposed to the remuneration policy. (for subscribers)
Karyn Maughan reports that one-third of legal professionals found there was no basis to impeach Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe even after reading the gross misconduct report against him. Maughan argues that the minority opinion is founded on “baseless and misogynistic grounds”. (for subscribers)
Those behind the hiring of the six men that were arrested for the killing of whistleblower Babita Deokaran must be brought to justice writes Professor Jonathan Jansen.
While confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ability to lead the nation and turn around the country’s fortunes was high when he entered office, South African’s don’t think he’s leading effectively anymore argues Justice Malala. (for subscribers)
And Toby Shapshak writes about the ‘magic’ happening in the financial services and fintech arena.
