What Andre de Ruyter did well – and where he failed

Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati said Andre de Ruyter did a good job exposing corruption, which helped them implement measures to fight it.

However, he failed to engage sufficiently with Eskom staff on the ground and did not have support in the organisation.

Speaking at the recent Biznews Investment Conference, Nyati said he did not like commenting on previous leaders at an organisation.

“We are not paid to say things about the leaders who served before us. Our job is to fix the problems we have,” he said.

However, during the question-and-answer session, Nyati was directly asked what De Ruyter did well and where he failed.

Nyati said De Ruyter did the right thing by highlighting corruption at Eskom. “We have taken his work and taken it to the next level,” he said.

“He had a feeling that there was corruption at Eskom. We no longer have a feeling – we know who is doing what and are taking action.”

Nyati said it was brave of De Ruyter to expose corruption at Eskom and say what he has said.

Commenting on what De Ruyter could have done better, the Eskom chairman said he could have spent more time on the ground.

“He could have tried to understand and listen to the Eskom employees who understand that environment,” Nyati said.

He said before developing a strategy, it is valuable to spend a lot of time on the ground to understand the challenges.

“The people who are the closest to the problems are the ones who have insights that you may want to integrate as part of your strategy,” he said.

He added that as a chief executive, you need the support of the people in your organisation. De Ruyter fell short in this department.

“He had a lot of support externally. What surprised me was that there was no support for De Ruyter in Eskom,” Nyati said.

“That is dangerous. Who are you leading when you see nobody is following you? That is the problem.”

De Ruyter’s views on what he did well – and where he failed

Andre de Ruyter was asked the same question in an interview with ENCA’s Annika Larsen in early 2023.

In this interview, he said his biggest failure as chief executive was the poor performance of Eskom’s coal-fired power plants, which led to load-shedding.

He told Larsen he failed in the readily measurable objectives, including load-shedding. “That is the elephant in the room,” he said.

De Ruyter said the high levels of load-shedding during his time at the power utility would forever be a black mark against his name.

In his book, Truth to Power, he said he fully understands why many might brand my term a failure, with load-shedding reaching historically high levels.

“Indeed, promising to end load-shedding was one of my biggest early mistakes. I had completely misjudged the severity of the challenge,” he said.

On the positive side, he said he made good progress at improving other aspects at the power utility.

• Operations, while still nowhere where it should be, started to show some signs of recovery.

• Discipline was returning to the power station floor, and excellence was the expectation.

• Safety statistics now included contractors, previously regarded as unimportant.

• Maintenance was a priority again, as was installing the right spares and appointing competent contractors.

He added that the income statement was no longer awash in a sea of red ink and that the debt on the balance sheet was reduced by about R100 billion.

“I made good headway in restoring the Eskom culture of excellence and values-driven leadership,” he said.

De Ruyter said he believes he successfully defined a strategy for Eskom’s exit from the crisis—something that was “irrevocably set.”

“The private sector is adding massive capacity at no cost to Eskom or the taxpayer. The transition is happening,” he said.

He added that he was proud that they managed to roll back the tide of criminality threatening to engulf Eskom completely.

“Looking back on the patriotic ambitions with which I took on the job, I am satisfied that, unlike the twenty-eight who turned it down, I at least tried,” he said.

“In some respects, I know the triumph of high achievement, and I know that where I failed, I failed ‘while daring greatly’.”