Three months ago, the headline was adamant: André De Ruyter was saying Eskom “can’t be fixed”. Today, Eskom says it is producing more power than South Africa can use. It’s enough to give you whiplash.

Of course, the devil is always in the details, and admirers of De Ruyter, former CEO of Eskom, will explain to you that what he actually told a conference back in May was not that Eskom couldn’t be fixed, but that it was unlikely to be returned to its former glory as an internationally admired, state-run behemoth providing cheap electricity...