Andre de Ruyter’s warning about South Africa

Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter warned that South Africa’s race-based policies and close relationship with rogue nations drive investors away and hurt the country’s economic growth.

De Ruyter shared his views during an interview with renowned economist Dawie Roodt on the popular OntbytSake show.

After leaving Eskom, De Ruyter lived in the United States and worked as a senior fellow at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.

This gave him a front-row seat on how the United States views South Africa and what they think of the country’s government.

He told Roodt that under the Democratic Party Presidents, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, the United States showed great loyalty towards the ANC.

However, in recent years, the focus in the United States has shifted towards which countries South Africa aligns itself with.

The question posed is whether South Africa aligns itself with China, Russia, and Iran, or stands with the United States.

“There is tremendous noise in the United States about this issue. In Washington, the Republicans and Democrats say South Africa’s position is unacceptable,” he said. “We are scoring own goals all the time when it comes to the South African government’s foreign policy.”

Another problem is South Africa’s race-based policies, including black economic empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action.

The former Eskom CEO stated that race-based policies pose a significant obstacle to international investors.

“Investments are needed to grow the economy and create employment opportunities. These investments should primarily come from overseas,” he said.

“However, it is as if the South African government insists on placing one obstacle after another in the way of foreign direct investment.”

De Ruyter explained that international investors are not patient, as they have numerous options in other countries to invest.

“You have 5 to 10 minutes to state your case. If that story is not convincing, the investors pass and select a different country to invest in,” he said.

Business leaders must speak out

De Ruyter said he remains optimistic about South Africa and that there is hope that things will turn around in the country.

One of the things he would like to see is for more business leaders to speak out about problems in the country and the government’s destructive economic policies.

However, he understands the risks associated with it. The government wields significant power through regulatory discretion, which can make life difficult for any business.

He cited the case of former Sasol CEO and chairman, Pieter Cox, who highlighted the risks associated with BEE.

Cox faced an attack from former South African President Thabo Mbeki for his criticism of the government’s race-based policies.

“Incidents like the Cox case, where the government acted extremely harshly towards business leaders who differed from its policies, scared other leaders,” he said.

The fact that the government hold power of licensing in many regulated sectors puts further risk on those who criticise policies like BEE.

“If you want a mining or water license or a contract from the government, you’d better watch out or there will be trouble,” De Ruyter said.

He said the fear factor associated with criticising the government and its anti-business policies have played a role in silencing business leaders.