Andre de Ruyter appointed as Eskom’s new group chief executive

De Ruyter, who is currently the CEO at Nampak, the continent's largest packaging company, replaces former group chief executive Phakamani Hadebe who left the entity at the end of July.

The Ministry of Public Enterprises has announced Andre de Ruyter as Eskom’s new group chief executive.

“I would like to thank De Ruyter for not only accepting this position at a difficult time for Eskom but, given Eskom's current financial situation, to also agreeing to a lower compensation package than the position currently pays,” Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said in a statement on Monday.

De Ruyter, who is currently the CEO at Nampak, the continent's largest packaging company, replaces former group chief executive Phakamani Hadebe who left the entity at the end of July.

“As things stand, I am reassured that there is committed and capable leadership at Eskom in the Chief Financial Officer (Calib Cassim), the Chief Operating Officer (Jan Oberholder), the Group Executives for Generation, Transmission and Distribution (Bheki Nxumalo, Segomocco Scheppers and Monde Bala), the Group Executive for Human Capital (Ms Elsie Pule) amongst others, who have all been working tirelessly under the leadership of Mr Mabuza over the past few months.

“I am confident that he will lead a committed and capable management team that will work with him and the Board to take Eskom forward,” the Minister said.

De Ruyter will commence his duties at Eskom on 15 January 2020.

The Minister said the government is working to bring back the engineering skills and experience of competent and ethical professionals that have been lost to Eskom over the years due to state capture and other incidents of malfeasance.

“We remain committed to strengthening the Board with the necessary skills set - this is being prioritized and further announcements will be made in this regard in due course,” he said.

The Minister said De Ruyter is an accomplished CEO with deep and wide experiences in creating and managing highly-performing businesses.

He holds various qualifications, including an LLB and MBA.

“He spent more than 20 years with petrochemicals group Sasol in a number of senior management roles that gave him significant global exposure in the energy and chemical industries. His portfolio included overseeing work in the US, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Germany, and China,” Gordhan said. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)