Cape Town – The dust has not settled, but power utility Eskom has announced its interim group CEO appointment with immediate effect.
On Friday morning, the embattled parastatal announced the appointment of Calib Cassim taking the reigns from ousted CEO, André de Ruyter.
It is not clear if Cassim will take the position permanently.
Cassim was appointed as Eskom’s chief financial officer (CFO) on November, 2018, after he served as its acting CFO from July 2017.
“He is a registered chartered accountant (SA) and holds a master’s degree in business leadership (MBL). With over 20 years of service in Eskom, his qualifications and extensive experience have provided Mr Cassim with a deep understanding and appreciation of the Eskom business and the electricity industry, especially regarding the challenges facing the financing of operations and future expansion of the industry,” the power utility said.
It also thanked Cassim’s family for permitting him to assume additional responsibilities and lauded him for stepping up to the role.
On the flipside, Eskom is under a magnifying glass after de Ruyter gave an explosive interview to eTV’s Annika Larsen where he hit the nation for a six, raising allegations of crime and corruption at the parastatal.
In the interview, he also accused ministers of interfering in Eskom operations and said a criminal syndicate in Mpumalanga was improperly benefiting to the tune of over R1 billion per month.
De Ruyter has indicated he will be leaving the country due to safety concerns.
This latest announcement by De Ruyter also comes months after he revealed an attempt on his life in December, where high cyanide levels were found in his blood by doctors after he felt dizzy and disoriented at the office after drinking coffee, IOL reported.
De Ruyter said he could not speculate who was behind the attempt on his life.
While his resignation was announced last year, he was to work out his notice period until March.
However, after the TV interview, an announcement that De Ruyter would be leaving Eskom with immediate effect was made by the power utility following a special board meeting on Wednesday. This decision was said to be a mutual agreement between the utility and the former CEO.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL