South Africa's Eskom gets interim head after CEO's sudden exit

Johannesburg. Beleaguered South African power utility Eskom appointed an interim CEO on Friday, after the previous head left suddenly following a bombshell interview where he accused the ruling party of corruption.

The company said its Chief Financial Officer, Calib Cassim, would take the helm "with immediate effect". 

"Mr Cassim will lead the Eskom management team until further notice," the company said in a statement.

South Africa is in the midst of a severe energy crisis, with record power cuts that have hampered economic growth and angered the population.

The appointment of Cassim, a registered accountant with a 20-year career at the state-owned firm, comes two days after the company's board of directors asked former CEO Andre de Ruyter to leave.

The shock announcement came just hours after De Ruyter gave an incendiary interview with local eNCA television, where he expressed doubts about the political will in government to end endemic graft at the power utility.

Asked if the firm, which provides about 90 percent of South Africa's electricity, was a "feeding trough" for the governing African National Congress (ANC), De Ruyter said "evidence suggests that it is".

The ANC has refuted the claims, with party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Thursday accusing De Ruyter of "incompetence" and having failed at his job.

In the interview De Ruyter also said crime groups were stealing around one billion rand ($55 million) a month from the debt-laden company.

De Ruyter said he suffered an attempted poisoning attempt in December, around the time of his resignation, drinking coffee laced with cyanide.

A police investigation is ongoing.

South Africa has seen record blackouts, known as loadshedding, over the past year, as its creaking coal-generated power system has failed to keep pace with demand.

De Ruyter had come under pressure from some government ministers who accused the company of not properly attending to the crisis, which analysts say is the result of years of mismanagement, disrepair and corruption.

Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster and the appointment of an electricity minister in a bid to intensify the response to the crisis.