A bad week for Eskom CEO André de Ruyter

A good week

There’s a joke doing the rounds that the more things change, the Morné Steyn the same. The Springboks’ victory in the final test against the British & Irish Lions may have had just three points in it, but it was a stunning snatch of a win for captain Siya Kolisi and his men, including the veteran No 10 who kicked them to a series triumph. Who cares what the naysayers think of their style: the Boks have played 30 tests since Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber took over as coaches in 2018, and their record of victories is no fluke.

A bad week

It doesn’t get much worse than the week Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has just had. First, you declare your monstrously over-budget, emission-spewing power station complete and then, five days later, it blows up on you. What’s his third trick — load-shedding? Mind you, that’s a real possibility given how fragile SA’s electricity system remains, 14 years after the free-for-all loot fest aka build programme on Medupi began. We’d say back to the drawing board but when it looks like a Jackson Pollock, probably not a good idea.