South Africa’s power company Eskom has reported a $704m (£580m) loss for the year ending March 2022.
While this may seem high, it represents a reduction from the $1.47bn lost in the previous year.
Following high-profile cases of theft and sabotage at power utility Eskom, the group has to “micromanage” investigations because South Africa’s authorities are moving too slowly.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter is leaving the embattled power utility at the end of March next year and said it's an honor to have led an organization of its size.
“I’m gratified that I was entrusted with this opportunity and disappointed that I couldn’t achieve all of the objectives that I’d set myself,” he said at a virtual news conference a few days after resigning.
"I think the circumstances surrounding Eskom are well known – the operational challenges, the financial challenges, the challenges surrounding societal matters including crime and corruption, as well as some of the issues that we had experienced in delivering the unbundling of Eskom and making sure that we can achieve our objectives in that regard," he added.
He's not leaving the parastatal for another job but will be taking some time away to spend time with his family. It's been a taxing few years, something he spoke about in an interview with YOU just three months ago.
According to the Sunday Times, the power utility is also disappointed by the level of attention being given to these crimes, given their profound impact on the country. Eskom’s general manager of security, Karen Pillay, said that prosecutors are unavailable after hours, magistrates are unwilling, and suspects get meager bail sums.
De Ruyter said threats to staff have dramatically increased since the power utility started clamping down on sabotage and corruption. Station managers are now wearing bulletproof vests to work, and de Ruyter says more must be done by authorities to help Eskom fight against crime.
Over the past couple of months alone, several truck drivers have been arrested for stealing coal, two security guards for stealing close to R150,000 worth of diesel and a maintenance worker for sabotaging one of its units at the Camden power station.
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