President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions from members of Parliament. Picture: Elmond Jiyane
Pretoria - President Cyril Ramaphosa said the new Eskom board had to be given space to review the effectiveness of the management at the power utility.
He added that the board was expected to undertake a full assessment of the efficiency of managers and operators at the power utility.
Ramaphosa was speaking on Thursday during a question-and-answer session in Parliament.
EFF leader Julius Malema asked Ramaphosa why Eskom’s CEO, André de Ruyter, remained at the helm when the country was still gripped by load shedding.
The struggling power provider has been experiencing significant issues at its power plants, resulting in months of load shedding, with just fleeting breaks in between.
Ramaphosa said the CEO reported to the board, which conducted performance reviews against agreed targets.
“The new board has the skills, experience and expertise to undertake a thorough assessment of current executive leadership and take whatever steps they consider necessary to address areas of weakness,” he said in response to Malema.
Ramaphosa emphasised that allowing the board to do its assessments was critical, as the power utility had undergone a high volume of leadership change at the executive level.
“Eskom has gone through enormous challenges and difficulties. Let us give them the support they need so that they can do their work. Where they fail, clearly action does need to be taken, but that is now a board matter,” he said.
He also added that a range of initiatives were currently under way as a matter of urgency to address load shedding, and an announcement would be made in the February budget regarding how much debt the government would take over from Eskom.
Answering questions on the scrapping of BEE and affirmative action from opposition parties, Ramaphosa said these policies could not be removed, as they had been introduced essentially to address the imbalances created by apartheid.
These policies were not only about justice and redressing historic injustices, they were also necessary for economic growth and job creation, because they opened up the economy to black people.
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald said BEE and affirmative action had been used by the ruling party to promote cadre deployment and also enrich their friends and families, and it didn’t benefit the majority who needed it.
Ramaphosa agreed that the policies had been severely abused by those in power. However, the intention had been to uplift groups which had been sidelined during the apartheid era, and it would be unfair to scrap it, as some people were still living in abject poverty they inherited from the previous generation.
“There is generational poverty. Poverty is what our people have inherited, from generation to generation, and you see how it manifests itself – you see it by the number of indigent families who can’t even afford to pay for the services that they need.”
Ramaphosa said BEE and affirmative action would ensure that black people had a stake in the economy and didn’t pass on poverty to their families.
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