[imagesource: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg]

Taking over the role of top dog at Eskom is never going to be a walk in the park, and the rapid turnover in the position over the past decade or so shows just how fraught with danger that position is.

Perhaps that’s part of why selecting the Eskom CEO has taken so long, with the role first advertised back in July, but now we have a name.

That name is Andre de Ruyter, and there is already a backlash. One look at his name and you’ll know why the EFF is kicking up a stink, calling the appointment “anti-transformation and racist”.

OK, EFF, but you guys couldn’t even support a rugby team with a black captain, so pipe down in the cheap seats, please.

Another reason for some of the discontent stems from the fact that Andre’s name seemed to come out of left field, and although he has vast experience as the current CEO of packaging firm Nampak, he has no experience with state-owned companies.

Still, he has an impressive CV, reports Fin24:

De Ruyter has served as Nampak CEO since 2014. His role overlapped with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s chairmanship of the company, which began in 2010 and ended in 2018.

Prior to his role at Nampak, De Ruyter spent more than two decades at petrochemical giant Sasol in a number of senior management roles. He’s overseen work in the US, Germany, China and African nations including Nigeria and Angola, the department said.

“I would like to thank Mr. De Ruyter for not only accepting this position at a difficult time for Eskom, but, given Eskom’s current financial situation, also agreeing to a lower compensation package than the position currently pays,” the department said.

That sounds noble, but it’s not like he’ll be going hungry. During his tenure at Nampak, de Ruyter took home more than R21 million in bonuses, and last year earned R16,5 million which included a bonus just shy of R9 million.

All of that despite the fact that Nampak’s share price sank 15%.

De Ruyter is already without the backing of Eskom’s biggest labour union, the National Union of Mineworkers, who said that they weren’t even aware he was a candidate, and that “he will not receive our support”.

Over on the Daily Maverick, there’s talk of some last-minute political wrangling behind the scenes:

Daily Maverick reliably learnt the De Ruyter’s selection, and Monday’s announcement was linked to a last minute change of mind in senior government circles.

It’s murky, and the official ministerial announcement seems to reflect this…

“De Ruyter did not do background consultations and due diligence, whereas [potential frontrunner Andy] Calitz was known to have thought deeply about how Eskom needed to be reformed,” Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Montalto told Daily Maverick, adding the appointment came “as something of a surprise to everyone”.

As with all South Africans who have been plunged into darkness for hours at a time, we can only hope de Ruyter finds a way to turn around what many have said is a ship that is all but sunk.

We live in hope.

[sources:fin24&dailymaverick]