Cape Town - Eskom CEO André de Ruyter hinted to MPs that there is no end in sight for load shedding this year.
The best that could be done to mitigate load shedding by two levels is by expending more cash for diesel, he said.
De Ruyter and the beleaguered company’s officials appeared before the portfolio committees on public enterprises and mineral resources and energy and select committee on public enterprises and communication joint sitting in the National Council of Provinces.
De Ruyter presented a report that said “all medium to long-term levers and Eskom’s generation recovery plan is a 2-year plan”.
In the interim, he said, the “most viable solution” to minimise load shedding was to make sure that Eskom had the cash to run its open cycle gas turbines at their maximum capability, which could save up to two levels of load shedding.
Earlier in the day, De Ruyter also spoke at the Mining Indaba.
The outgoing De Ruyter and management spent the duration of his tenure at the company butting heads with labour, prompting MPs to ask both sides to present their cases.
MPs said De Ruyter had promised to end load shedding in three years, but appeared before them yesterday to tell them of two more years, which MPs criticised.
At a recent minerals and energy and public enterprises joint sitting, the National Union of Mineworkers accused senior management of signing fraudulent contracts, among other allegations.
On Tuesday, De Ruyter batted away several allegations. De Ruyter is on record as saying the allegations are baseless.
He repeated counter-accusations of criminality and sabotage. On accusations that Eskom had binding contracts with Independent Power Producers (IPP), De Ruyter said the IPP office in the Mineral Resources and Energy Department negotiates those contracts on behalf of Eskom.
Public enterprises committee chairperson Khaya Magaxa said unions feel as though they’re used “as tools, and not labour”.
De Ruyter had been invited to discuss a list of issues, especially his skipping a meeting with MPs for a meeting with the World Bank last month.
At the time of writing on Tuesday, MPs were still posing questions to De Ruyter and he had not yet responded to questions about whether, as outgoing CEO, he was still signing deals on behalf of Eskom.
The meeting went into the night.
De Ruyter was probed about whether Eskom uses the same quality of coal as that exported by local coal suppliers to the European market.
DA MP Galeb Cachalia, who was criticised by ANC MP Mikateko Mahlaule for appearing to be sympathetic towards De Ruyter, said the answers around Eskom lie in the detail of De Ruyter’s presentation and it needed to be scrutinised.
soyiso.maliti@inl.co.za