Eskom CEO André de Ruyter was suddenly removed following a damning interview on eNCA. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - In the wake of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s sudden removal following a damning interview on eNCA in which he alleged a minister and high-level politician were enabling corruption at the power utility, the ANC has warned that it will take De Ruyter to court.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the governing party’s lawyers would write to De Ruyter to prove his claims within 7 to 10 days.
“We will challenge him for saying our party is corrupt and failing to prove how. I am not going to wait for some parliamentary committee to summon him. I am going to write to him through our lawyers. He must prove within 7 to 10 days what he said.”
De Ruyter tendered his resignation in December last year, after claiming he had been poisoned with cyanide, and was due to stay on as CEO until the end of March, but on Wednesday the Eskom board announced De Ruyter’s exit with immediate effect.
This momentarily left Eskom without an active CEO and leadership while the country struggles under the worst blackouts it has ever experienced.
However, on Friday morning, the power utility announced that Calib Cassim was appointed as interim CEO with immediate effect. Cassim will lead the Eskom management team until further notice.
#Eskom #MediaStatement
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 24, 2023
Eskom appoints Calib Cassim as Interim Group Chief Executive with immediate effect pic.twitter.com/AFPLtB4wMm
In De Ruyter’s TV interview, journalist Annika Larsen asked whether Eskom was being used as a “feeding trough” for the ANC, to which he replied there was evidence to suggest that it was.
He alleged political interference in a deal in which France, Germany, the UK, US and EU would invest R150 billion to support South Africa’s move away from coal in October last year.
“I expressed my concern to a senior government minister about attempts, in my view, to water down governance around the $8.5bn that, by and large through Eskom’s intervention, we got at COP26, and the response was essentially that you must be pragmatic. In order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit.
“So when we pointed out that there was one particular high-level politician that was involved in this, the minister in question looked at senior officials and said, ‘I guess it was inevitable that it would come out anyways.’”
De Ruyter’s sensational interview was aired on the eve of the national Budget speech, which announced that R254bn of Eskom’s debt would be taken over by the Treasury.
The government slammed the interview, saying “there are formal channels, for all government entities, that exist between executives, boards and ministries, and this includes Eskom”.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan sought to rein in De Ruyter, saying CEOs “should not be involved in political debates” and their political views are their own private business.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party would submit an urgent request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act for Eskom to disclose the ANC’s involvement in the “looting and downfall” of Eskom and to reveal names.
Political analyst Daniel Silke told the Cape Argus: “De Ruyter’s interview is the most damning indictment so far of linkages within the state, Cyril Ramaphosa’s executive, and the potential for corruption within Eskom.
“It was an extremely damaging and embarrassing account which undermines government’s message of renewal and attempts to reel in foreign investment and private sector investment, not only into the energy space but also into the broader infrastructure development of South Africa.”
Silke said De Ruyter reinforced the view held by many that there was a big rot in the state of the country.
“He had nothing to lose, having already handed in his resignation… He took it upon himself to be a quasi-whistle-blower on this issue,” Silke said.
Silke, economist Dawie Roodt and others said the claims made by such a senior individual at Eskom warranted the president to take action and appoint a commission of inquiry that must complete its work within a short period, even a month, and deliver recommendations.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za and soyiso.maliti@inl.co.za