BLSA defends decision to support De Ruyter’s criminal investigations

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has at least tried to help Eskom by raising funds for an assessment of the risks to the power utility from criminality.

This is in line with its aim to support the creation of a conducive environment for business which is essential for inclusive economic growth, investment and jobs.

Busi Mavuso, BLSA CEO, defends the decision in her latest newsletter, saying there is no bigger issue for the economic environment than Eskom.

“Electricity insecurity damaged many of our businesses, made many investments impossible and destroyed jobs. It affects businesses both big and small while damaging the quality of lives of ordinary South Africans.” 

She points out that the next biggest challenge is law and order and says that organised crime has become a major problem for the business sector, which has been subject to growing extortion threats, sabotage and much else on top of the background levels of criminality that afflict our country.

“That is why, when BLSA was approached by Andre De Ruyter, former Eskom CEO, in 2021 to fund an assessment of the risks to Eskom from criminality, we were happy to consider it. In de Ruyter’s view, corruption and organised crime were and are a material part of the problems afflicting Eskom.

“This intractable problem required skilled external resources to investigate and understand, resources that Eskom itself could not provide and which the criminal justice system, including the police, had not provided to a sufficient degree.” 

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BLSA’s multi-faceted approach to resolve energy crisis

Mavuso says she is acutely aware that BLSA acts to serve the interests of its members who provide the funding that supports its operations, and its limited resources must be deployed in the way that delivers the greatest return.

“We believe that we can do that by helping to end the electricity crisis and support institutions of law and order and that is why these are our top two priorities in our strategy. De Ruyter’s request aligned with both of those priorities. He was clear that organised crime and sabotage were major factors afflicting Eskom, alongside financial and operational issues.”

The BLSA’s efforts to help resolve the electricity crisis are multi-faceted and the organisation supports the National Electricity Crisis Committee (Necom) and contributes significantly to the R100 million Resource Mobilisation Fund that will cover the technical skills required by Necom to advance its plan to deal with the electricity crisis.

“We also contributed through Tamdev to support Operation Vulindlela to implement policy that will help resolve the electricity crisis and have seconded skills to municipalities and other institutions to support maintenance and repair infrastructure.

“Similarly, we have worked hard to confront the law and order challenges we face as a country. Following the publishing of the Zondo report into state capture, we engaged the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on how we could support capacity in dealing with the recommendations of the report. That led to a memorandum of understanding that allows BLSA to provide funding to deploy resources under the NPA’s direction, ensuring the independence of the prosecuting authority.

“Through our division Business Against Crime, we provide multiple sources of support to the police, including our Eyes and Ears campaign which ensures business, including private security companies, gathers information for the police and provides technical skills and resources to support policy work. In these efforts we are supporting the capacity of these institutions to deliver on their mandates.”

ALSO READ: Ramokgopa’s deviation from Necom plan ‘disconcerting’, says BLSA

De Ruyter’s request a natural extension of support programmes

Mavuso says De Ruyter’s request was a natural extension of these programmes of support and therefore the BLSA agreed to the request.

“As in the other cases, we were at pains to not involve ourselves in the scope or people involved, but we were comfortable that the resources were necessary for De Ruyter to deliver on his mandate of improving electricity availability.”

She acknowledges that the results could have been better but emphasises that it has been far from fruitless.

“In January, 25 arrests were made in connection with sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom and several more were made last year. These were supported by the intelligence gathered from the various investigations De Ruyter oversaw, including, we understand, that were partly funded by BLSA.”

These are of course a major threat to vested interests who have substantial resources to deploy, she says. “These interests are deeply invested in sustaining their extraction from the utility and other targets. When I see narratives being pushed about Eskom’s need to favour certain generation sources over others – even to the extent of contradicting existing government policy – we must always ask whose interests they serve.” 

She says the attack on De Ruyter and the risk assessment that BLSA part-funded must be seen in terms of who stands to benefit. “There are powerful actors, with strong motives both to stay out of jail and to maintain their access to resources, who can push narratives to serve their interests. These vested interests are motivated both to challenge the transition to renewables, although it is clearly the best way to resolve the energy crisis but from which they do not have the means of extraction, and to extort and corrupt Eskom.” 

ALSO READ: Can we trust De Ruyter’s claims of ANC involvement in Eskom corruption?

A BLSA success story

In last week’s newsletter, Mavuso shared a success story of what can happen when business and local government work together. For the past three years BLSA, together with the United States Agency for International Development, has been funding a capacity-building programme in the provincial department and various municipalities in the Eastern Cape where retired engineers and financial and technical experts were deployed to help improve service delivery.

“It is working. The school I visited now has working toilets. The kids are back to full school days. It is one of eight schools that BLSA has funded among 90 in total that various businesses have backed to have their toilet facilities fixed. It has required work with municipalities to get water infrastructure working to deliver to the schools, which also means it gets water to residents and businesses. I also visited a pump station in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality that has been restored through the partnership.”

In her latest newsletter, Mavuso says the BLSA has been attacked for its actions in backing De Ruyter in his mission to deal with criminality in Eskom, but that that is to be expected. “As BLSA we will not shy away from a robust stance on organised crime and corruption, even more so when it puts dealing with the energy crisis at risk too. We cannot shirk our responsibility to do what we can to improve the business environment and the lives of ordinary South Africans.”