André De Ruyter can easily say he did not have political support as Eskom’s CEO. Critics can turn around and say he never lacked in that regard. He leaves Eskom in more or less the same state he found it in, if not worse. In terms of some important indicators, Eskom is in free fall. It cannot produce enough of the one thing only it can sell as an entrenched monopoly. It wants to charge more, even for those who opt for alternative sources, like renewables.
His resignation reflects poorly on several people or clusters of people. Then there is the problem the MBA as a one-size-fits-all qualification. He was never ready for the job in South Africa’s leading engineering firm. Another problem was his own leadership style and capability. A white middle-aged man from a packaging company attacks his 45,000 workforce in the media as incompetent and wholesale corrupt. He then relies on the power of the politicians around him to give him cover.