De Ruyter should not have been fired: Eskom’s legal head
Mel Govender, Eskom’s Head of Legal and Compliance, has questioned the manner in which former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter was relieved of his duties following an explosive interview where he blew the lid on widespread corruption at the power supplier.
In February, de Ruyter had an interview with eNCA’s Annika Larsen, where he unveiled new details of corruption at the power utility and accused the ANC, in particular, of using the embattled company as a ‘feeding trough’.
Following the interview, a special board meeting agreed to shorten de Ruyter’s notice period to 28 February 2023, despite him already being due to leave the role at the end of March following his resignation period.
Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said that de Ruyter’s comments were deceiving and harmful to Eskom’s reputation.
However, speaking before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), Govender said that the former CEO did not bring the entity into disrepute as the issues he raised were public knowledge and not news to Eskom itself.
She said that coal theft, cable theft and electricity theft are not new issues for Eskom and are well-known.
She also questioned the speed at which de Ruyter was removed from his role, as it did not allow for a proper handover of information – including the highly controversial report from a private investigation into the organisation.
Despite de Ruyter’s allusion to confidential information at Eskom, Govender said the utility should not pursue legal action against de Ruyter.
However, she is also set to leave Eskom at the end of June, adding that the group may pursue legal action following her exit – adding that de Ruyter’s removal was one of the reasons that she chose to leave the organisation.
Report
Despite supporting de Ruyter, Govender agreed with members of Scopa that de Ruyter should have handed in a privately funded report into corruption at Eskom, which he based his remarks on during the interview with Larsen.
The report has landed the former CEO in hot water, with the investigation done by George Fivaz Forensic and Risk, allegedly sidestepping SSA protocols.
However, Eskom’s former Acting Chairperson, Malegapuru Makgoba, may have come to de Ruyter’s aid by claiming that President Cyril Ramaphosa and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan were aware of the investigation.
Makgoba added that Gordhan was not only aware of the investigation but may have inadvertently greenlit it, asking de Ruyter to launch an investigation into Eskom as it was besieged by crime at the time.
Although the minister did not explain how the investigation should be done, he did stress that the load shedding and criminal activities were increasing.
“The executive and the shareholder said that there must be a way that we can try and get on top of the matter – and that must be left to the executive. That executive was headed by (de Ruyter). I believe that when he decided to get this intelligence, he decided to do it on his own without involving his executive,” Makgoba said.
“The board, as a board, did not sanction a particular request as this was an operational matter, and he had the authority to do that.”
Gordhan has since denied giving De Ruyter the order to launch an investigation.
Read: How one property sector could cut 5 stages of load shedding in South Africa
Loading ...