André de Ruyter’s blockbuster exit from Eskom has left sections of society divided right down the middle over how the corruption allegations he made could potentially see South Africa regressing after a four-year marathon against graft, and which exposed how the state had been captured.
This comes after De Ruyter’s explosive interview with the commercial 24-hour TV channel eNCA.
During the interview, De Ruyter made a litany of allegations. He reiterated that corruption was deeply entrenched at Eskom and hinted at political interference at the power utility owing to vested interests.
De Ruyter said he had made enemies at Eskom and had stepped on the wrong toes after trying to close the taps of a cartel allegedly syphoning off at least R1 billion from Eskom each month.
He also implicated an unnamed high-level politician, allegedly a Member of Parliament, for using Eskom as their “feeding trough”, and who had told him “to enable some people to eat a little bit” from Eskom’s $8.5 billion (R1.6 trillion) Just Energy Transition Programme.
However, like clockwork the Eskom board announced that De Ruyter would be exiting the company with immediate effect and would no longer serve out the remainder of his notice period due to end on March 31 after he resigned in December.
But De Ruyter’s messy exit from Eskom is bringing the organisation into disrepute and the serious allegations he levelled at it have left society divided, with some lauding his outspokenness and others saying it was a little too late.
The SA Federation of Trade Unions said it was planning to lay charges against De Ruyter, as they want him to reveal the name of the MP he mentioned in his interview.
The business community has expressed concern about the bad impression De Ruyter’s mismanaged exit will have on investor confidence, especially seeing that there is no acting CEO at the power utility at the moment.
Business Unity SA’s CEO, Cas Coovadia, said they were in the process of engaging relevant people to understand the situation before they made public comments.
“We would prefer to comment after that, instead of doing so on the basis of the interview with André and responses from some in government,” Coovadia said.
This comes after Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said De Ruyter needed to produce evidence to support his claims that government officials benefited financially from Eskom.
“I find that, unless he can demonstrate evidence, this is insulting. This president, since he came in, had the key objective of making sure that the Zondo Commission worked,” Gungubele said.
“Zondo gave Eskom all the evidence, and that still needs to be followed. He knows that the ANC government is committed to cleaning up the government.”
During his interview, De Ruyter also speculated that Russia could be involved in plans by the Central Energy Fund to take over the soon-to-be-decommissioned Eskom power plants.
De Ruyter said it was interesting to observe how, soon after Eskom received a request from the CEF to transfer three of its ageing coal-fired power stations in a bid to move to gas, there had been a visit by Russian minister of energy Nikolay Shulginov to South Africa late last year, as Russia was seeking new markets for its gas.
But this was an allegation quickly refuted by the CEF yesterday, which said it considered it reckless for De Ruyter to go on national television and make wild allegations about their request for collaboration with Eskom.
“The intention, though, from Mr de Ruyter is a sinister one which has nothing to do with addressing the debilitating effects of load shedding on the South African economy through ensuring the optimisation of the capacity that sits within the South African state to address this challenge,” the CEF said.
BUSINESS REPORT