The recent appointment of Andre de Ruyter to the position of Eskom CEO has been met with mixed emotions, particularly by trade unions and fervent supporters of the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) agenda.
Although the African National Congress (ANC) has welcomed the appointment of de Ruyter, at a time when Eskom is teetering on the brink of both operational and financial collapse, union allies have been less hospitable.
Andre de Ruyter tasked with turning Eskom around
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), which currently has its hands full with a particularly nasty South African Airways (SAA) strike, condemned the appointment of de Ruyter. The union’s general secretary, Irvin Jim, who has vehemently opposed Eskom’s unbundling strategy, alleging that government is in the process of privatising the power utility, said of de Ruyter’s appointment:
“This constitutes a setback when it comes to the transformation agenda in the co
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