South Africa News

He’s trying very hard – David Mabuza defends André de Ruyter amid load shedding

Deputy President David Mabuza has come to the defence of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter on Thursday, saying South Africans should commend him for some of the work done.

Mabuza said Eskom was not a “dead horse” but was a company that required a turnaround that must involve a private partner.

The deputy president was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces on a range of issues including Eskom.

His remarks come amid calls for De Ruyter to resign following the latest series of power cuts around the country.

A number of power stations in recent weeks have suffered random outages. Eskom also embarked on planned maintenance of its aging fleet.

Mabuza said De Ruyter was a good manager who was brought into a collapsing company.

“In the person of the CEO, you have got a very good manager there. But remember, you have brought this manager into something that is ailing, something that is unstable, something that is collapsing. And for the very fact that we’ve got load shedding, but he still keeps the lights on and he’s trying very hard to maintain. I think we should give praise where he deserves. I think we must commend him for the work done.”

But Mabuza said Eskom must find good partners because the country can’t deal with load shedding indefinitely.

-EWN

In other news – Agnes (Millicent Makhado) from Muvhango attacked after revealing what happened when she was shopping

Actress Millicent Makhado has received a lot of backlash on social media after she revealed people still refer to her as Agnes today, even though she left the popular TV show Muvhango years ago.

Millicent Makhado

“Yesterday, I was doing shopping and I kept hearing ‘Agnes, Agnes, Agnes’, until I paid attention to the voice. Kanti this lady was referring to me. I’m not surprised Sonia is being addressed as Ntombi,” she shared. Learn More