Embattled power utility Eskom has appointed a new chief executive officer, Andre de Ruyter who will commence duties on 15 January, 2020.

Pursuant to the departure of the former GCE Mr Phakamani Hadebe at the end of July, 2019, the board set out to commence the recruitment process to find a replacement, the group said in a statement on Monday (18 November).

In line with Eskom policies, the recruitment process took two forms, a head hunting process and a public advert placement for external and internal participation.

The following process was followed:

The search agency received a list of 142 potential candidates, including eight Eskom employees. First shortlist of 17 individuals was formulated and interviewed by the agency. From that 17, eight potential candidates withdrew as they did not wish to make themselves available. The Board interviewed 6 candidates. Four candidates were requested to undergo competency tests. The final interview process was undertaken, after which the panel ranked three candidates from six. After further interviews a list of three candidates, with the indication of a preferred candidate was submitted to the shareholder in terms of the Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) between Eskom and the government. The president appointed a team of cabinet ministers to consider the Boards recommendations. The Ministers concurred with the Board’s recommendation.

De Ruyter is currently CEO at Nampak, the continent’s largest packaging company.

A holder of various qualifications, including an LLB and MBA, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said that de Ruyter is an accomplished CEO with deep and wide experiences in creating and managing highly-performing businesses.

“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 chemicals industries. His portfolio included overseeing work in the US, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Germany and China.

“I would like to thank Mr de Ruyter for not only accepting this position at a difficult time for Eskom, but, given Eskom current financial situation, also agreeing to a lower compensation package than the position currently pays,” Gordhan said.

He will work with the Eskom board, management and the government to spearhead the re-organisation of Eskom, which includes the separation of Eskom into three entities: generation, transmission and distribution, as well as the creation of Eskom Holdings.

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