Africa-Press – South-Africa. Business Leadership SA CEO Busi Mavuso says former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter chose the wrong forum to air his views on corruption at Eskom and should instead have reported them to the board and the police.
De Ruyter’s interview on e.tv last week, in which he claimed that a senior Cabinet minister was involved in Eskom corruption and that the company was a “feeding trough” for the ANC, has provoked a storm and led to his immediate departure from the company. De Ruyter also said that he had informed a Cabinet minister of these issues, but the minister had failed to act and urged him to be more pragmatic about corruption.
In her weekly newsletter, Mavuso, who is a former board member of Eskom, wrote:
BLSA said it also supported the call by the ANC Veterans League for President Cyril Ramaphosa to afford De Ruyter the protection of a whistle-blower.
“Let’s not forget that already someone has tried to murder De Ruyter by poisoning him, and he and his family have received numerous death threats,” says Mavuso.
Mavuso said that BLSA, which represents the largest companies in the economy, said that the issues raised by De Ruyter were in the public interest and must be explored.
‘Poisoned environment’
“The one issue that needs urgent investigation is the very serious implication that a cabinet minister was aware of corrupt dealings of a fellow ‘senior politician’ but did not report it. That is a criminal act.
“BLSA is extremely concerned about the poisoned environment in which the energy market operates and believes these serious allegations, though unproven, require an urgent response from our government and appropriate agencies of state to ensure that the truth is uncovered and appropriate action taken.”
Mavuso said that the ANC’s response had been “illuminating” which has been to attack De Ruyter’s character rather than call for a proper investigation.
“Despite the massive efforts undertaken to expunge corruption from state systems through the Zondo Commission, it seems the focus is to deflect from the main issue and attack De Ruyter, and so continue to protect the ANC’s vast patronage network at the expense of the country’s interests. Would it not be better to take the allegations at face value for now and commit publicly to arriving at the truth – wherever it may lead?
“If De Ruyter is found to have misrepresented anything, the result would simply be punitive to him personally, whether legally or merely reputationally.”
BLSA was also concerned that the allegations around corruption at Eskom damaged SA’s international reputation. Of particular concern was SA’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) which was funded by the US, UK, France, Germany and the EU.
“BLSA hopes that the JET-IP package is not now at risk with the countries that are funding it already concerned about South Africa’s international positioning. As an example, the US House of Representatives is considering a resolution filed by Republicans last week asking the Biden administration for “a thorough review of the current and future status of the United States-South Africa bilateral relationship.”
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