DA writes to Mapisa-Nqakula calling for ad hoc committee to probe Eskom corruption

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has written a letter to National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, requesting the urgent establishment of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate allegations of corruption at Eskom involving the African National Congress (ANC).

This follows an explosive interview former Eskom group chief executive André de Ruyter conducted with eNCA last week, in which he made serious allegations of corruption at the beleaguered parastatal involving the governing party and some individuals who serve in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.

Eskom corruption

Steenhuisen said he wrote to Mapisa-Nqakula requesting the establishment of the ad hoc committee because the nation needs to know the “full, unvarnished truth” of the graft claims at Eskom.

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“Parliament needs to take the lead and institute a thorough inquiry into the full extent of the ANC’s criminal capture at Eskom.

“An ad hoc parliamentary committee will have the power to subpoena any individual it deems necessary to come before it for questioning, including Mr De Ruyter himself.

“The inquiry will have the power to provide recommendations for further action based on the testimonies and evidence gathered,” said Steenhuisen in a statement.

Treason

The DA leader said the allegations made by De Ruyter suggested that the ANC was systematically sabotaging South Africa’s electricity system to further its own corrupt aims.

If they’re true, Steenhuisen said this would be treason on the part of the governing party. He said the question of whether to establish the ad hoc committee would be debated and voted on in the plenary of 16 March 2023.

“The ANC has been vocal in denying its involvement in corruption at Eskom. If the governing party is indeed innocent, it should strongly support the DA’s request for an ad hoc parliamentary committee, both to clear its name and to identify the true perpetrators of Eskom corruption.”

If the ad hoc parliamentary committee were to be established, this would not be the first time such an inquiry had to be instituted. In June 2017, Parliament directed four committees to investigate state capture at the power utility and adopted a report in November 2018.

ANC ultimatum

At the weekend, the ANC threatened to file criminal charges against De Ruyter if he did not report his allegations of corruption at Eskom with evidence, to law enforcement agencies in seven days.  

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Most opposition parties have backed calls for the former Eskom group chief executive to be summoned to Parliament to account for the claims he made during his television interview.

At the same time, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Monday said he was not aware of any cartels behind the sabotage of Eskom’s power stations as suggested by De Ruyter.

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Gordhan denied being aware of the cartels’ existence, saying rather he was aware that there was corruption at Eskom and other state-owned enterprises.

“Do I know about the so-called four cartels? No. Do we all know that there are people mischievously mixing coal with stones? Yes. Have I been given names of companies? No,” he said.

“There are businesses on the other side of the equation as well and in fact very little has been said about business culpability in this entire process.”

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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