Embattled power utility Eskom announced on Friday that its chief financial officer, Calib Cassim, had been appointed interim group chief executive with immediate effect.
Cassim would lead the Eskom management team until further notice, according to a brief statement.
Cassim’s appointment comes a day after the power utility announced its board had reached a “mutual agreement” that the notice period of chief executive Andre De Ruyter had been “curtailed” to 28 February.
De Ruyter resigned in December after three years at the helm of Eskom and was set to stay in his position until March 31 to enable a smooth management transition.
He gained the wrath of the governing African National Congress and the Eskom board, however, with the airing of an interview this week in which he told eNCA’s Annika Larsen of entrenched corruption at the state-owned-entity, which had been enabled by high ranking ANC politicians.
He also spoke of an attempt to poison him last year, and the allegedly incompetent police detectives who were sent to take his statement. During the interview, De Ruyter said the officers had confused cyanide being used as the poison, with sinus problems.
Test results had indicated high levels of cyanide in his system, he told Larsen.
He said that according to his estimates, Eskom was losing R1 billion per month because of theft and corruption.
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, hit back at De Ruyter during a press briefing on Thursday, calling his views anti-revolutionary and saying his ideology was “right wing”. He said if De Ruyter had information on allegedly corrupt politicians or ministers at Eskom, he should report it. He also threatened to take legal action against De Ruyter.
Cassim, who has been CFO since 2018, is a chartered accountant with a masters degree in business leadership and has over 20 years of service with Eskom.
In his budget speech on Wednesday, finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced that Eskom would receive a bailout of R254 billion over the next three years.
The entity has received bailouts of R263 billion over the past 15 years, and its debt is just over R423 billion.
