Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and his family’s “secret location living” will be something of the bleak past when he joins the private Ivy League research university Yale in New Haven, Connecticut as senior guest lecturer at the end of August.
Collateral damage from bombshell interview
In February 2023, De Ruyter was released from his duties “with immediate effect” at Eskom, less than 24 hours after his bombshell eNCA interview aired.
In his candid interview with journalist Anika Larsen, he made shocking claims of rampant corruption at the embattled power utility which served as a “feeding trough for the ANC”.
He also alleged that two high-level politicians were involved in “sinister and potentially criminal activities” at Eskom.
The former CEO, however, has not disclosed the names of the politicians despite his virtual appearance in front of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on 26 April to submit a formal submission and field.
In May, he released his bestseller, Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, in which he exposed further details about corruption and incompetence at the power utility.
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De Ruyter and family go ‘underground’
De Ruyter left South Africa in February to live in a secret location, citing concerns about his and his family’s safety, due to his revelations related to corruption at Eskom.
The former Eskom CEO survived an alleged attempt on his life by means of poisoning in December 2022.
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What will De Ruyter teach at Yale University?
According to Sunday newspaper Rapport, De Ruyter will present a course on renewable energy and the green economy market at three of Yale’s institutions: School of Management, Jackson School of Global Affairs, and School of the Environment.
At the request of the university, Eskom’s Just Energy Transition (JET) vision, which focuses on achieving “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, will serve as the core focus of his course.
The Eskom programme, initiated during his tenure, received more than R150 billion in financing for green energy projects in South Africa.
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Straight-shooter approach to teaching
In sharing his approach to teaching with City Press, De Ruyter said there will be no place for convoluted academic jargon in his lectures.
According to the 52-year-old seasoned executive, he will empower students with practical and comprehensible insights.
De Ruyter believes this approach was summed up best by the words of physicist Richard Feynman: “If you can’t explain it to your grandmother, you don’t understand it yourself.”
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