DA leader John Steenhuisen at the Debate on the State Of The Nation (Sona) at Cape Town City Hall on 14 February 2022. Picture: Gallo Images/Jeffrey Abrahams
The African National Congress (ANC) has slammed efforts by the Democratic Alliance (DA) for Parliament to investigate corruption at Eskom.
In a mini-plenary on Thursday, MPs debated on the DA’s motion to establish an ad-hoc committee to look into former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s allegations of wrongdoing and criminality at the power utility.
The debate comes just a day after Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) reconsidered last week’s decision on whether to establish an inquiry into the matter.
ANC MP Bheki Hadebe asked Scopa to call former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to appear before the committee.
Scopa members at the time agreed that the committee needed to gather more information from De Ruyter before launching the inquiry.
During Thursday’s debate, DA leader John Steenhuisen argued that De Ruyter’s allegations could not be ignored and voiced his support the establishment of the committee.
“The fact is, Eskom will never be fixed until we know who and what is breaking it,” he said.
“These are serious allegations indeed. We shouldn’t even need to debate this. Obviously South Africa needs this inquiry, and we need it urgently.”
The DA leader said “only a parliamentary inquiry can give a proper platform and protection to those innocent people who know what is happening at Eskom”.
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“Those with information must not be assassinated like Babita Deokaran or poisoned [with cyanide in his coffee] like André de Ruyter. They need the full protection of a parliamentary inquiry if we are to know the truth. And given De Ruyter’s poisoning, there is clearly a determined effort to stop the truth from coming out.”
Steenhuisen was backed by fellow DA member Ghaleb Cachalia.
“Any absence of such [an investigation] will allow the criminality to continue unabated. We all know that while this continues, the utility cannot be fixed and in the absence of such fixes, load shedding is here to stay,” Cachalia said.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Veronica Mente pointed out that the party had warned everyone about the alleged corruption at Eskom.
“The widespread corruption and unabated criminal networks and cartels are institutionalised in the evergreen contracts we have been for. We are not going to be guided by the arrogant and incompetent André de Ruyter’s allegations when we have always known about the corruption at Eskom,” Mente told MPs.
Other political parties also supported the establishment of the ad hoc committee.
ANC MP Mikateko Mahlaule, however, rejected the DA’s proposal, saying there was a tendency among opposition parties to “prematurely” call for ad hoc committees.
“While the parliamentary rules allowed for the formation of ad hoc committees and how this may operate, the rules still do not state on what basis these committees may be called. There must be prima facie evidence for the calling of such an ad hoc committee as currently they are only allegations which are untested,” he said.
He pointed out that there were already normal parliamentary processes performing the oversight and accountability duties at Eskom.
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“There are portfolio committees dealing with Eskom and they are empowered to do so.”
Mahlaule further took a swipe at Steenhuisen, who only has a matric certificate, for being “ahead of himself”.
“Perhaps it is time that honourable Steenhuisen receives a Nsfas [National Student Financial Aid Scheme] bursary to undergo some tertiary education to elevate the level of understanding [of] Parliament [so] he can make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s economic development,” he added.
The National Assembly will vote on the matter next Thursday.
De Ruyter, in an explosive interview with eNCA last month, disclosed that he had told a Cabinet member about corruption involving politicians as well as sabotage at Eskom, led by four crime cartels.
The former Eskom CEO said he believed that the state-owned enterprise (SOE) was an ANC “feeding trough”.
Much of the corruption within Eskom was related to coal theft and fraud – apart from the rigging of tender processes, according to media reports.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head advocate Andy Mothibi has already instructed investigators looking into the alleged Eskom graft to engage with De Ruyter on his claims.
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