De Ruyter not naming names in alleged ANC Eskom corruption

Former Eskom chief executive officer Andre de Ruyter is facing the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) today (26 April), answering questions relating to his allegations implicating high-level politicians in corruption at the embattled power utility.

In a broad-sweeping interview with journalist Annika Larsen in February, de Ruyter made specific reference to what he saw as entrenched corruption within government and governance around Eskom.

When asked by Larsen whether he believes those in the ANC see Eskom as a “feeding trough”, de Ruyter said that evidence would indicate this is the case.

“I expressed my concern to a senior government minister about attempts – in my view – to water down governance around the $8.5 billion US dollars that, by and large through Eskom intervention, we got at COP26.

“The response was essentially, ‘you know, you have to be pragmatic – in order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit’. So yes, I think it is entrenched.”

The CEO did not mention which minister he approached but confirmed that they were still in government. He also revealed that the attitude of ministers towards reports of alleged corruption was blasé.

“When we pointed out that there was one particular high-level politician that was involved in this, the minister in question looked at the senior official and said, ‘I guess it was inevitable that this would come out anyway’. Which suggests that this wasn’t news (to them),” he said.

In de Ruyter’s interview, two characters came to the fore: the senior minister, and the high-level politician.

Off the bat, Scopa wanted names.

The committee asked De Ruyter which minister made the comments that appeared to be condoning corrupt activities and which high-ranking politician was said to be involved in corruption.

However, De Ruyter was reticent and loath to expose himself to legal action. He said that it would be more appropriate for the committee to get those identities from the officials to which he reported the issues.

By De Ruyter’s account, the identities of the officials he mentioned are known to both Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and National Security Advisor Dr Sydney Mufamadi.

Why he won’t name names

De Ruyter tried to clarify the context of his statements in the interview, particularly the quote, “enable some people to eat a little bit”, allegedly said by the minister involved.

This, he said, was a response to a concern he expressed to the unnamed minister and other individuals about the $8.5 billion funding that would be applied to the benefit of Eskom.

“When such a large amount of money is supplied to a company with a checkered past, when it comes to governance and how funds are managed, concerns arise that money should be controlled,” he said.

He stressed that the minister’s response was in this context and not related to broader corruption and should not be seen as expressing a condonation of ‘feeding’ on the funding.

De Ruyter said it is thus not appropriate to divulge the minister’s identity, as it cannot be characterised as approval of corruption at Eskom.

Scopa contested that the minister in question’s response – and their stance on the alleged high-level politician’s involvement in corruption, where “it was inevitable that it would come out anyway” – suggests that this was referring to known corruption, where nothing was done.

“South Africans deserve to know which minister, who has taken an oath to protect the resources of the country, uttered these words,” the committee said.

However, as is the case with the identity of the high-level politician involved, De Ruyter said he would not mention names due to the security risks involved, including possible legal action, civil or otherwise.

He also said he did not want to inadvertently defeat the ends of justice by potentially disrupting any ongoing investigations in to the matter.

The former executive repeated that he disclosed all his findings to the shareholder representative, Pravin Gordhan and Mufamadi. He also stressed that he fulfilled his legal mandate to report crime and corruption by approaching the highest authorities.

“I engaged with the SAPS at the highest level as well as other senior officials – generals, brigadiers and representatives,” he said. This included Natjoints and the State Security Agency.

“This gives sufficient credence to the fact that I engaged with law enforcement authorities to make clear that appropriate steps be taken. I also took steps to improve internal controls,” he said.

He said that the names are known, and the committee should approach the respective authorities for that information.

Read: De Ruyter’s explosive claims of ANC corruption at Eskom on shaky ground: report