Andre de ruyter is used to having his weekends ruined. The ceo of Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned electric utility, was recently interrupted by a call telling him that locomotives carrying coal to a huge power station had stopped running. Thieves had stolen the overhead cables. He had to find working diesel trains—not an easy task, since fuel is often pilfered, too. “When people ask why isn’t Eskom turning around,” says Mr de Ruyter, “it’s because the chief executive is spending his Sundays trying to find locomotives.”
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