On Tuesday, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter reaffirmed his commitment to the struggling power utility amid growing calls for him to step down as the head honcho while rolling blackouts hit the country hard this week.
Business lobby group, the Black Business Council, released a statement calling for De Ruyter’s resignation saying they were “optimistic” when he was appointed nearly two years ago but “the country has nothing to show but the most blackouts in the history of our beloved SA”.
While the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have also added its voice to the calls for De Ruyter to be removed from Eskom.
In a press conference to brief the country about the ongoing blackouts, De Ruyter said he served at the pleasure of the board and the Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, neither of whom he said had asked him to step down.
De Ruyter emphasised at the press briefing that a simple change in leadership would not solve the multitude of issues at Eskom with underlying issues like electricity generation capacity and ageing infrastructure like coal-fired plants at the root of the blackouts.
“It is important to have the continuity of management rather than fall into the trap of having 11 CEOs in the past 10 years. That lack of continuity has contributed to the lack of stability at Eskom. The frustrations around load shedding will not be resolved by changing horses or jockeys at this point,” said De Ruyter.
He did also receive some support from Business Unity SA, who said the problems at Eskom predate De Ruyters’ appointment and that changing management would not help Eskom.
“It does not help to exacerbate the ongoing operational crisis by creating a leadership and governance crisis at Eskom.”
Meanwhile, the country got some reprieve from blackouts when Eskom downgraded load shedding from Stage 4 to Stage 3 on Wednesday morning and will drop down to Stage 2 on Friday morning.
While on Thursday, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will have to present a strong Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in the wake of the outages at Eskom.
According to Business Day, income grants will take centre stage in Godongwana’s first budget speech before parliament.
“Thursday’s numbers are straightforward — with around R160-billion extra in the national kitty, R32.8-billion is for the support measures announced earlier this year, such as the continuation of the R350 grant to March 2022, and the R3.9-billion for the government’s special risk insurer Sasria to support businesses hit in July’s public disorder and looting,” reports Daily Maverick.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Vodacom to buy Vodafone Egypt for R41-billion – Tech Central
Eskom must be declared a national disaster to ward off Stage 6 power cuts and foil sabotage – Daily Maverick
City of Johannesburg’s R280-million real estate deal ‘crime scene’: Strategic friends – Daily Maverick
Global Business
Elon Musk’s brother sold R1.6 billion in Tesla stock ahead of poll – Fin24/Bloomberg
Facebook’s Meta to ban adverts that target people on ‘sensitive topics’ politics, race and sexual orientation – Sky News
Shein: The secretive Chinese brand dressing Gen Z – BBC News
Markets
Oil rises on surprise U.S. crude stockpile decline – Investing.com
Dollar near one-month low to yen as inflation test looms – SABC News
China factory-gate inflation hits record again – AFP
Opinion/In-depth
Gwede Mantashe calls for a unified African fossil fuel front while rich world ‘encircles’ continent – Daily Maverick
Activists petition to stop Shell’s planned seismic survey in seas off Eastern Cape – Daily Maverick
What is artificial intelligence and how does the EU plan to regulate it? – Euronews
Video
Greenpeace sues Volkswagen over climate – Reuters
Some Travelers Stay Cautious As U.S. Reopens Borders – Newsy
The best way to invest in crypto? Here’s a guide – AusBiz
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