‘We can’t run a banana republic’ – Ramaphosa on why he isn’t investigating ministers over Eskom graft

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has not been presented with evidence implicating any members of Cabinet or other senior government officials in corruption at Eskom.

Ramaphosa took the podium in the National Assembly to answers questions from MPs on Thursday.

‘Real evidence’

During the Q&A session, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen quizzed the president about allegations by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter that politicians were involved in criminality and wrongdoing at the embattled power utility.

Steenhuisen argued that it was known that the ANC was responsible for corruption at Eskom.

“Mr president why have you not made any effort to identify who these Cabinet ministers are and hold them accountable?” he asked.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa says it’s not his job to find out which ministers are allegedly involved in Eskom graft

Ramaphosa said it was easy to make allegations against any person.

“But where’s the evidence to back that up?” he responded.

He insisted that those with full knowledge of any corruption or criminal activity needed to approach the law enforcement agencies.

“I cannot possibly be able to lead on the basis of whims, innuendo and stories that are bandied around. I need to deal with real evidence.”

Watch the meeting below:

The president said he had no authority to arrest or investigate people.

“Even if I wanted to do that and have those dictatorial ambitions, the rule of law and the Constitution of this country would never allow me to do that.

“In the end, it has to be done through due process of the law, it has to be done through the institutions that were put in place because if the president starts investigating his own ministers, then it basically means that we don’t need for the police or criminal investigators. We cannot run a banana republic in South Africa over things like that, we cannot… that we will never do,” the president continued.

Soldiers deployment

Ramaphosa said there was significant progress made by the authorities, Eskom and other government departments to address crime and corruption.

He said the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would protect infrastructure at various Eskom power stations.

“Our focus is to reveal and unearth all these acts of malfeasance whether they are inside Eskom or even outside and that is a process that is ongoing,” he said.

READ MORE: De Ruyter ‘at pains to avoid’ naming politicians who knew about Eskom corruption

“There are more than 5 000 cases being investigated… this means work is being done on an ongoing basis, and I think that is what we should be pleased about.”

The president on Monday authorised the employment of 880 soldiers to safeguard a number of power plants across the country for a period of six months until 17 October.

The deployment will cost about R146 million.

Intelligence investigation

The Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) this week informed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that they were not investigating any politician in relation to Eskom.

Both institutions revealed that had no knowledge of any details contained in a report of the private intelligence investigation initiated by De Ruyter.

This is despite national police commissioner Fannie Masemola’s claim that the Hawks had been informed by the South African Police Service.

De Ruyter told Scopa last month that the R50 million investigation, which was funded by private donors.

Meanwhile, Eskom confirmed that it will appoint independent investigators to probe the various allegations made by De Ruyter.

NOW READ: ‘Gordhan told De Ruyter to gather intelligence somehow,’ Scopa told