Former Eskom group chief executive Andrè de Ruyter. Picture: Gallo Images
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has called for former Eskom group chief executive (GCE) André de Ruyter to be summoned to appear before Parliament.
This follows De Ruyter’s explosive interview with eNCA this week in which he alleged that the African National Congress (ANC) was involved in corruption at the parastatal and claimed at least four mafia-like cartels were operating at Eskom in Mpumalanga.
Eskom announced late on Wednesday night that De Ruyter would leave the power utility with immediate effect after a mutual agreement with the board.
ALSO READ: André de Ruyter leaves Eskom with immediate effect
This followed a special Eskom board meeting, which resolved to shorten his notice period to 28 February instead of 31 March 2023.
“The board further resolved that Mr De Ruyter will not be required to serve the balance of his notice period but that he will be released from his position with immediate effect.
“Acting GCE arrangements are being finalised with the shareholder minister and will be communicated shortly,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a statement.
De Ruyter resigned from the parastatal in December last year and was persuaded to remain in his position until the end of March while the board searched for his replacement.
De Ruyter’s abrupt departure from Eskom follows his scathing interview with eNCA’s Annika Larsen that was broadcast on Tuesday evening.
WATCH: Eskom a ‘feeding trough’ for ANC – De Ruyter
In the interview, De Ruyter made explosive allegations about the inner workings of the power utility. He revealed that he had shared details of alleged corruption at Eskom with ministers and the president’s advisers, but no action was taken and that law enforcement agencies were missing in action.
De Ruyter also said Eskom was a “feeding trough” for the ANC and claimed that a “senior ANC politician”, who he declined to name, was involved in corruption at the parastatal.
Asked about De Ruyter’s revelations in Parliament on Wednesday, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan slammed the former Eskom GCE and accused him of “meddling” in politics instead of addressing the load shedding crisis.
Gordhan said De Ruyter’s remarks were “unfortunate”, adding that if he had political views, De Ruyter should have expressed them privately and not on public platforms.
In a statement on Thursday, ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said the party would write to Parliament’s joint committee of Mineral Resources and Energy and Public Enterprises to demand that De Ruyter be summoned to give details on his startling revelations.
He said the claims made by De Ruyter indicated the “deep rot at Eskom” and the complicity of senior ANC politicians in the company’s corruption scandals.
“In particular Mr De Ruyter has to disclose who this senior minister is that he kept reporting these transgressions to without any action to respond to his revelations,” said Ntshona.
He said De Ruyter also had a case to answer for his alleged failure to report corruption at Eskom with law enforcement agencies in accordance with the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA).
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday said it was drawing up an urgent request to Eskom management in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to obtain all information and evidence at Eskom’s disposal regarding the alleged ANC politician behind the corruption at the utility.
“In the interests of accountability, transparency and combating the ANC corruption that has caused the load shedding crisis, the DA’s PAIA request will compel Eskom management to not only make public the name of the senior ANC politician concerned but to hand over all information and evidence at their disposal regarding the ANC’s involvement in corruption at Eskom,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a statement.
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