Cape Town – South African power utility Eskom has appointed Calib Cassim as Interim Group Chief Executive “with immediate effect”, following the abrupt departure of Andre De Ruyter on Wednesday night.
Eskom made the announcement in a statement on Friday morning.
Cassim will lead the Eskom management team until further notice.
“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,” Eskom said.
Eskom appoints Calib Cassim as Interim Group Chief Executive with immediate effect pic.twitter.com/AFPLtB4wMm
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 24, 2023
Cassim was appointed as Eskom’s chief financial officer (CFO) on November, 2018, after he served as its acting CFO from July 2017.
Africa’s most industrialised country has laboured under crippling power shortages as Eskom fails to keep pace with demand and maintain its ageing coal power infrastructure.
But the outages have reached new extremes, with the country experiencing a record 207 days of power outages last year alone, compared to 75 days in 2021.
The power cuts have hampered economic growth, disrupting commerce and industry, with lights often going off several times a day for up to 12 hours.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Additional information by AFP
