Eskom chairman says people who cannot run a spaza shop are now mayors and CEOs in South Africa

Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati has urged South Africans to demand more from their leaders, including those heading up state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Nyati shared his opinion on this issue in a series of social media posts, highlighting that many leaders in top positions are incompetent.

He is one of South Africa’s most respected business leaders. He has held numerous top positions, including CEO of MTN South Africa and Altron.

He has won accolades for his contribution to the business sector, including the EY World Entrepreneur Award Southern Africa in 2021.

Nyati has also received the ‘Business Leader of the Year’ award at the All Africa Business Leaders Awards in 2019.

The University of Johannesburg’s College of Business and Economics awarded Mteto an honorary doctorate in IT Management.

Nyati began his tenure as Eskom chair on 1 November 2023 and drove the new board’s engagements with power station managers and employees to create a turnaround plan.

Under his guidance, Eskom has significantly reduced load-shedding and continues to show performance improvements.

He has been a vocal critic of poor government leaders and recently urged South Africans to demand more from their leaders.

“People who cannot be trusted to run a spaza shop for a minute are appointed as mayors, municipal managers, hospital CEOs, MECs and SOE CEOs,” he said.

“As South Africans, we expect service delivery, not chaos, from them. Crazy, isn’t it? The joke is on us.”

He said South Africa is regressing because, as a society, it tolerates poor leadership in schools, universities, clinics, hospitals, municipalities and SOEs.

“Instead of holding our leaders accountable, we worship them. Respect must be earned,” Nyati said.

He added that in most African cultures, age and position grant baseline respect and that personal character, wisdom, or contributions are secondary.

“In essence, respect is not earned. We don’t hold our leaders accountable. We revere them. This is the root cause of our socio-economic problems,” he said.

He said South Africans are tired of the corruption that is destroying their country. “General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has freed their voice,” he said.

“South Africa’s leaders better focus on the substantive issue he has raised instead of the process. Unfortunately, they often fail to read the room.”

Nyati further criticised South African political leaders for creating a challenging environment for doing business.

“It is challenging to run a business in South Africa. Often, political leaders throw bombs on roads that are already full of potholes,” he said.

“Business leaders have to navigate these roads while being customer-obsessed. No wonder our business leaders are sought after globally.”

He argued that entrepreneurs are not valued in South Africa. “Entrepreneurs are literally carrying this country in terms of solving societal problems,” Nyati said.