Andre de Ruyter, chief executive of South Africa's state power company Eskom Group, which produces nearly 95 percent of the country's electricity, has been released from his position with “immediate effect”, the utility announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The electricity provider said in a statement that the decision on the chief executive's early release was taken during a special board meeting with him on Wednesday. De Ruyter announced his resignation in December 2022 and was scheduled to leave the office by the end of March 2023.
At the time, De Ruyter’s resignation came after Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe accused him of “actively agitating for the overthrow of the state” by forcing planned power cuts that caused outrage among South Africans.
"The board further resolved that Mr de Ruyter will not be required to serve the balance of his notice period, but will be released from his position with immediate effect," Eskom said in the statement.
South Africa has been struggling with power cuts, leading to rounds of load shedding, or rolling blackouts, since 2007, but the energy crisis worsened recently. Since November, the nation has been facing daily power cuts at peak times, which hinder the economic growth of the country and interfere with every part of people's daily life.
The situation forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare "a national state of disaster" to overcome the electricity crisis gripping South Africa. The president said that the state of disaster regime would allow his government to take a series of practical measures to handle the crisis.
On Wednesday, during the country’s 2023 annual budget, the South African National Treasury said that the government had decided to take on 254Bln rand ($14Bln) of Eskom's 423Bln rand debt to avoid the company defaulting on its debt and interest obligations.