{"id":620105,"date":"2025-11-25T20:28:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=620105"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:08:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T06:08:25","slug":"andre-de-ruyter-versus-dan-marokane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/620105-andre-de-ruyter-versus-dan-marokane.html","title":{"rendered":"Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter versus Dan Marokane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eskom\u2019s data showed that the power utility performed significantly better under its current chief executive, Dan Marokane, than under its former CEO, Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Ruyter\u2019s tenure as chief executive has been a highly debated issue, with some praising him as exceptional and others questioning his leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told BizNews Investment Conference delegates that he took on a pretty tough job becoming Eskom CEO, and gave it his best effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really worked hard to try to make it a success. I think that I started to put some momentum back into the system,\u201d De Ruyter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Ruyter explained that running a large organisation can be easy once it has positive momentum, with legacy systems and procedures ensuring things run smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When De Ruyter assumed the top job at Eskom, he found that the momentum had gone entirely from the utility. He said he helped to fix this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know I have this association with the Prince of Darkness, but I do think that I made that contribution to getting the momentum back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes that the fruits of his labour were only seen after his departure, and that his tenure got the ball rolling regarding improvements at the generation facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His detractors often point out that South Africa experienced the worst load-shedding in its history during his tenure as chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last two years, load-shedding has been nearly non-existent. This means many people blame him for the high blackout levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with ENCA\u2019s Annika Larsen in early 2023, he admitted that his biggest failure as CEO was the poor performance of Eskom\u2019s coal-fired power plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told Larsen he failed in the readily measurable objectives, including load-shedding. \u201cThat is the elephant in the room,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPromising to end load-shedding was one of my biggest early mistakes. I had completely misjudged the severity of the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in recent interviews, he argued that Eskom\u2019s improved performance was not purely due to better management at Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Ruyter stated that it was the result of several factors, including the completion of several large generating units and the increased use of diesel fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor was private investment in new solar generation capacity, which takes pressure off Eskom\u2019s grid and helps it to meet demand, which has declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan Marokane should get credit \u2013 Mteto Nyati<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dan Marokane, Eskom CEO (left); Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister of Energy and Electricity (middle); Mteto Nyati, Eskom chairman (right) at the power utility\u2019s 2025 financial results presentation, where Eskom posted a profit for the first time in 8 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dan Marokane officially started his role as Eskom Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 March 2024 and was tasked with ending rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under his tenure, Eskom\u2019s performance improved significantly, and the country experienced a substantial reduction in load-shedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom\u2019s Q2 Business Performance Report for the 2026 financial year revealed how much the power utility has improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Load-shedding was reduced from 329 days during its peak to only 4 days in the current financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom\u2019s energy availability factor (EAF), a core measure of generation reliability, improved from an average of 58.7% in September 2022 to 62.4% in September 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom\u2019s profit after tax increased significantly over the last three years, from R3.8 billion to R25.9 billion. It also has much healthier levels of liquidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) improved from R37.9 billion to R68.3 billion in three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom added that it reduced its spending on open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) from R30 billion in 2023 to an expected R8.5 billion in the current financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It highlighted improvements in key operational KPIs, including the installation of transmission lines and a reduction in energy losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom board chairman Mteto Nyati said Marokane did not receive the credit he deserved in turning Eskom around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said comparing media reporting on Eskom during De Ruyter\u2019s tenure as CEO to that of the utility under Marokane shows bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter had done half of what Dan Marokane has done in Eskom, he would be called Mr Fix-it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead, Dan\u2019s efforts are overlooked, attributing Eskom\u2019s turnaround to the private sector or a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the numbers say<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With such diverse views on the performance of De Ruyter and Marokane, the best way to assess the situation is to look at the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband examined key performance indicators under De Ruyter\u2019s last year as Eskom CEO, and Marokane\u2019s latest year in the same position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data shows that Eskom is performing significantly better under Marokane than under De Ruyter in most metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below shows Eskom\u2019s performance comparison for the 2023 (De Ruyter) and 2025 (Dan Marokane) financial years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measure<\/th>An<\/strong>dr\u00e9 d<\/strong>e Ruyter (FY 2023)<\/th>Dan Marokane (FY 2025)<\/th>Comparison<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Revenue<\/td>R295.5 billion<\/td>R340.9 billion<\/td>+R45.4 billion<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Profit or loss (R billion)<\/td>R23.9 billion loss<\/td>R16.0 billion profit<\/td>+R39.9 billion<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Municipal debt  (R billion)<\/td>R58.8 billion<\/td>R94.6 billion<\/td>+R35.8 billion<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
OCGT production (GWh)<\/td>3018 GWh<\/td>2176 GWh<\/td>-842.0 GWh<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Diesel usage<\/td>R21.4 billion<\/td>R13.3 billion<\/td>-R8.1 billion<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
EAF<\/td>56.0%<\/td>60.6%<\/td>+4.6pp<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Load shedding<\/td>280 days<\/td>13 days<\/td>-267 days<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Transmission lines installed<\/td>326.1 km<\/td>292.6 km<\/td>-33.5 km<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyBroadband compared Eskom’s performance under former chief executive Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter and new CEO Dan Marokane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":620073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[61891,31156,98336,181,3192],"class_list":["post-620105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-andre-de-ruyter","tag-dan-marokane","tag-eaf","tag-eskom","tag-mteto-nyati"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620105"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":623080,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620105\/revisions\/623080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}