Obituary: Ian McRae, the founding father of electricity for all

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Former Eskom CEO was an inspirational leader who envisioned a subcontinental grid that would bring electricity to Africa

Current Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and former Eskom CEO Ian McRae. Picture: GEORGE LINDEQUE

His body passed away early on Sunday July 12, but the spirit of this founding father of electricity for all and the Southern African grid, initiated by one of the most admired and well-run utilities in the world at the time, lives on.There is more work to be done to rebuild Eskom, complete electrification and to expand the electricity grid further into Africa.

It was true that Ian McRae could inspire people to do the impossible. He took Eskom to incredible heights and he also left us the road map to the mountain top. All we need to is to read it and follow it. But he was not content with these salutary successes. There was more to his vision than running a top company. He realised the urgent need to bring electricity to all if the country was to prosper. It was a singularly unpopular notion, especially among the powers-that-be at the time. But it was compelling McRae believed — and he was proved right — that the provision of light and power changes lives, a force for good in the challenges that faced the nation.

 

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