Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe trended on social media amid calls for the removal of current CEO André de Ruyter due to Eskom continuing to roll out load shedding in the country.
On Monday, the power utility announced that it had increased the rolling blackouts to Stage 4 until Friday morning.
Social media users took to Twitter to voice their unhappiness with de Ruyter's management of the parastatal, observing that load shedding had hit record-highs under his watch.
User Joshua Mafolo said: "The problem with Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe is that they avoided loadshedding at any cost by racking up billions of rands buying diesel in order to keep the lights on".
Another user Khulani Qoma said:" So you wanna ignore the performance stats of Eskom under Koko and Brian Molefe? De Ruyter is an incompetent finish and klaar worst load shedding in history. The mandate is not to save Eskom however to cripple it so we can have Takatso consortium takeover".
Willie Weathers said: "Brian Molefe stopped loadshedding at Eskom and you had him fired, you will pay for your crimes".
Some users said that de Ruyter was being used to force the power utility to be privatised.
“Brian Molefe did not hide behind the bush and pointed where the problem at Eskom lies - incompetence at the top.”
“Comment: Andre de Ruyter is a pawn ♟ in a big chess game to privatise Eskom. The next buzz word will be IPPs,“ said user Zinja Zonke.
Since the beginning of the year, Eskom has been under fire for its inadequate energy capacity. The power company has been struggling for years to provide electricity, and it said the grid remains severely constrained.
In March, the power utility warned that, without additional capacity added to the grid, there was likely to be a 4 000MW to 6 000MW shortfall over the next five years, as power stations reach their end of life. At the time, Eskom said load shedding was likely to be a feature in South Africa until the stability of the grid improves.
Meanwhile The Black Business has also called for the removal of de Ruyter. In a statement the council said he has achieved nothing at the utility and had made things worse.
The pride of this administration is costing the country dearly. Mr Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko did the things Eskom that cannot be undone. They should be part of this #Loadshedding problem solving team, coz clearly De Ruyter is seeing flames by that utility.
— #PleaseCallMe Movement (@NelsonQ_Tau) November 9, 2021
Don't try to mislead us. Look at the load shedding stats per CEO from the time load shedding started. Even under Brian Molefe it came to a stop.
— Tebogo Mashego (@TebzaMAN) November 9, 2021
I become so annoyed, when I think about colonized blacks who have always described Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko as the most corrupt people but they do not ask themselves until to this day, these men have not appeared before any court for corruption! #Loadshedding
— ᵀʰᵉ✯𝔾rͥooͣtͫᴍaŇ⇝🐦✞ (@Junbugstone) November 9, 2021
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