President Cyril Ramaphosa Says New Eskom Board Needs Space to Assess Leadership Concerns at Power Utility

• President Cyril Ramaphosa wants Members of Parliament to have more confidence in the new Eskom board
• During a Parliament Q&A session, Ramaphosa stated that the new board was skilled and would assess Eskom's leadership
• Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema asked the president when Andre de Ruyter would be fired

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa says the new Eskom board should be given a chance to assess the issues at the state-owned power utility and the work of managers.

Ramaphosa made these remarks during a Parliament Q&A session on Thursday, 3 November. Members of Parliament asked the president questions about Eskom and its CEO Andre de Ruyter's performance.

According to TimesLIVE, Ramaphosa stated that the new Eskom board has the right skills to assess the performance of the Eskom leadership and will take whatever steps necessary to address areas of weakness.

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The question was posed by Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema who wanted to know if the president had considered firing De Ruyter for his shortcomings at the power utility.

According to the Mail & Guardian, De Ruyter and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan have been under fire for worsening loadshedding in the country. The EFF and Ramaphosa's critics within the ANC have steadfastly called for De Ruyter's removal.

Eskom has had close to 20 CEOs since South Africa became a democracy 28 years ago.

Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal ANC leadership want President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

Briefly News previously reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been urged to fire Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter by the African National Congress leadership in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.

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The ANC leadership from both provinces agreed that De Ruyter needs to be axed due to ongoing loadshedding and dismal performance at Eskom. The consensus was announced at a press briefing held on Thursday, 20 October.

According to TimesLIVE, the briefing was led by ANC KZN provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo and Limpopo secretary Reuben Madadzhe. Mtolo noted that Eskom stated that loadshedding is caused by a lack of coal and said that Eskom is "stupidly" not buying coal.

Source: Briefly News