How Ramaphosa overruled Number One

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba had to overrule President Jacob Zuma and demand immediate action against corruption at Eskom – and state capture – it emerged yesterday.

Ramaphosa told Zuma that if investor confidence in the South African economy was to be restored and the country seen in a positive light, tangible action needed to be taken at Eskom.

When investors saw the government was serious about fighting corruption, they would reconsider their stance towards SA.

Ramaphosa made it clear during a dinner organised by Brand South Africa on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that he and Gigaba approached Zuma and demanded immediate action against executives involved in corrupt activities at Eskom.

The newly elected ANC president, accompanied by Gigaba, did not take Zuma’s word, but insisted that the Eskom board be fired and replaced with a new one and an interim chief executive officer.

Zuma had no choice but to agree, but let Ramaphosa do the difficult task of dismissing the old Eskom board and appointed a new one, chaired by businessperson and former Telkom chairperson Jabu Mabuza.

He gave the board the task of appointing a new CEO and chief financial officer within three months.

Ramaphosa charmed guests at the dinner on Wednesday about the action already taken to deal with corruption at state-owned enterprises, and how the newly elected ANC leadership was unit ed behind the move and efforts to grow the economy.

He said they started at Eskom because business told him the problem at the power utility was bigger than was thought.

One of the businesspeople was concerned that if no action was taken, the country was going to be in trouble. “We’re facing a huge problem when it comes to Eskom,” Ramaphosa told the gathering.

“We’ve got to do something immediately and we kept thinking that in the next few days or another week, we will do something.” Ramaphosa added: “We heard the sound of the penny dropping, [but] the penny had dropped quite a while ago.”

He said they approached Zuma and told him the problem had to be resolved, and resolved right away

. “The thinking was that we should look at it next week. We said, ‘No sir. Right now, this problem must be solved or we’re facing a disaster’. What then happened was what we’ve all seen, the board immediately changed.

The acting CEO was immediately appointed.” Whether Ramaphosa’s charm will pay off remains to be seen, but there is huge optimism within South Africa that he is on the right track in dealing with corruption.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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