Ramaphosa stresses need to address Eskom CEO issue for stability

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President Cyril Ramaphosa says the issue of the Eskom CEO must be addressed to bring stability to the power utility.

The power entity has been operating without a CEO since the resignation of Andre de Ruyter last year.

Last month, the Chairperson of the Eskom board, Dr Mteto Nyati, said the urgency of the appointment of the CEO is part of the board’s plan to stabilise the organisation.

After addressing the G77 Summit, Ramaphosa took time to respond to pressing issues in South Africa. These relate to a court judgment on the responsibility of the state to ensure hospitals and schools have electricity.

President Ramaphosa emphasises need to address Eskom CEO issue for stability:

A High Court ruled in Pretoria that the Electricity Minister must take “all reasonable steps” to ensure uninterrupted power to public hospitals, clinics, schools and police stations by 31st January next year.

The President says the government is working tirelessly to ensure that schools and hospitals, among others, are less adversely affected by power outages.

City Power in Johannesburg has threatened to switch off power supply to hospitals due to nonpayment of services.

Ramaphosa says they will address the country’s energy challenges.

“We want our schools and hospitals to have the requisite amount of energy, so for us, it’s a confirmation that our government program. We did say that it’s our strategic objective that the issue of energy is affecting all of our societies, and there will be moments when we have load shedding that will affect certain ports of society negatively, but we are going to take steps to ensure that hospitals, schools, and police stations are less adversely affected.”