Fired Eskom chief executive De Ruyter ‘a victim of a mafia world’

As ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula threatened to sue André de Ruyter over his claim that ANC ministers were involved in or knew about looting at Eskom, a political expert says the fired Eskom chief executive was a victim of a “mafia world”.

De Ruyter, who was scheduled to leave Eskom at the end of March, was dismissed with immediate effect by the Eskom board on Wednesday, after dropping explosive information about the ANC’s shady dealings at the utility.

In an interview with eNCA journalist Annika Larsen, De Ruyter alleged the ANC saw the power utility as an “eating trough”.

De Ruyter a ‘victim’

Political analyst André Duvenhage said De Ruyter was the victim of a certain political climate and clique which was a mafia world of a survival of the fittest.

“There is enough evidence to show he was undermined,” he said. “He could not do his job because he also needed the political will and support to act, but he did not receive that support.”

De Ruyter said: “I expressed my concern to a senior government minister about attempts – in my view – to water down governance around the $8.5 billion (about R155 billion) that, by and large through Eskom intervention, we got at COP26.

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“The response was essentially, ‘you know, you have to be pragmatic in order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit.’ So yes, I think it is entrenched.”

According to Duvenhage, De Ruyter’s assessment and viewpoints about Eskom were 100% correct. This was also applicable in the civil service at large and the majority of parastatals, which included Transnet, the SA Post Office and the SABC.

“This corruption was related to the whole context of cadre deployment.”

De Ruyter did not name the minister concerned, but confirmed they were still in government. He also claimed the attitude of ministers in relation to reports of alleged corruption was blasé.

“When we pointed out that there was one particular high-level politician that was involved in this, the minister in question looked at the senior officials and said, ‘I guess it was inevitable that this would come out anyway.’ Which suggests that this wasn’t news [to them],” he said.

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Duvenhage said the government “does not want to take responsibility. It is not prepared to act in terms of the law and the principles of the law reflecting good governance and government”.

Government must tackle sabotage at Eskom

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse chief executive Wayne Duvenage said the interview showed the “strong morally courageous reflections of the concerns De Ruyter had and these were the realities he had to contend with as a CEO.

“He did not have the backing of the powers that be and political interference was high, with a clear indication that enrichment, fraud and corruption is taking place, which the political powers are aware of but are reluctant to act on,” he said.

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“If this government was serious about fixing Eskom, it would tackle the sabotage, the organised crime and give the necessary powers to tackle those issues first, so that we can keep the power stations going and not be subjected to sabotage and the increased costs of corruption.

“And I’m afraid, listening to parts of De Ruyter’s interview, this lies squarely at the feet of the president and the various ministers who are a bit remiss and reluctant to do the meaningful work that has to be done.”

‘Completely unacceptable’

Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane urged De Ruyter to publicly expose the “one particular high-level political” official and to report it to the police.

Mbalula said the comments of De Ruyter were “completely unacceptable”. Mbalula said the ANC would not be deterred and sidetracked by “utterances of naysayers such as the outgoing Eskom CEO”.

“His opportunistic venture into the political arena has unmasked his regressive political and ideological agenda,” he said.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Eskom a ‘feeding trough’ for ANC – De Ruyter

Mbalula said De Ruyter “shifts the goalposts by advertising his right-wing ideological posture on a matter that falls outside the scope of his employment contract.

“The question of whether the national energy utility is stateowned or not was never part of his contract,” he said.

– lungas@citizen.co.za