Africa-Press – South-Africa. The ANC has suggested that former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter wanted to tarnish the governing party’s image going into the national elections by making allegations that senior politicians in the party are involved in corruption at Eskom.
This is according to a statement the party released on Wednesday after De Ruyter appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), where MPs tried unsuccessfully to get him to reveal the names of the “senior politicians” he alleged in a TV interview were behind the maladministration, sabotage, and cartels at Eskom.
In the statement, the ANC questioned what motivated De Ruyter to make such claims about the party.
“It is curious why a chief executive officer of a state-owned enterprise would go out of their way to affirm reports which are not grounded in an iota of evidence.
“This being the same André de Ruyter who accused the ANC of being out of touch with reality and instead stuck in a Cold War era, is now found to be closely associating himself with dubious apartheid-era agents that consciously supported a brutal system and have blood [on] their hands,” reads the statement.
The “dubious apartheid-era agents” the ANC referred to stems from a News24 expose on Wednesday that the “evidence” De Ruyter used to implicate top ANC Cabinet members in corruption at Eskom was nothing but wild and untested allegations that came from a shadowy intelligence operative implicated in apartheid-era crimes.
News24 reported that the so-called Eskom “intelligence” files or reports made famous by De Ruyter in the TV interview were concocted by Tony Oosthuizen, a key member of an apartheid-era secret Military Intelligence unit, and are effectively worthless.
“The ANC will not be distracted by underhanded tactics aimed at diverting us from a determined drive to renew our organisation and encourage South Africans to continue voting for their movement in favour of safeguarding the drive towards a national democratic society,” reads the statement.
It added that several polls showed that the ANC stood a chance of winning the elections by over 50% in the national general elections.
“The likes of De Ruyter are obviously disturbed by such data to the point of soiling what otherwise could have been a clean reputation premised on his other positive contribution at Eskom.”
The ANC said law enforcement agencies had pointed out corruption at Eskom and that it had impacted the performance of the utility. The party, however, said any information about corruption at Eskom “should be verifiable and authentic”.
“At the core of unearthing information which points us to the weakest links within Eskom must be unquestionable efforts that can stand public scrutiny. Anything else will render justified and well-meaning efforts aimed at cleaning up Eskom unsuccessful,” said the party.
The ANC has also called for Business Leadership South Africa CEO and former Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso to “take the nation into its confidence and reveal how much was paid to apartheid-era agents to launder ‘rooi gevaar’ tactics and propaganda against ANC leaders”.
The News24 Eskom exposé revealed how Mavuso was approached by De Ruyter with a proposal that big business fund an intelligence-driven investigation by George Fivaz Forensic and Risk, and had then hastily convened a BLSA board meeting where directors agreed to fund the investigation.
In the end, BLSA, an independent association whose members include the leaders of some of South Africa’s biggest and most well-known businesses, contributed at least R18 million to GFFR.
In the statement, the ANC said it was concerned by De Ruyter’s involvement in this.
“We are deeply concerned about reports that the erstwhile CEO solicited funds from unknown sources that were channeled through Business Leadership. Even today, during his appearance in front of a multiparty democratically elected Parliament, De Ruyter continued with his duck[ing] and diving only once again to fail to take the nation into [his] confidence.”
In a statement on Wednesday, BLSA said it had provided funding to Eskom for the investigation to help uncover any illegal activities and to “complement the efforts of South African law enforcement authorities”.
“BLSA provides technical, financial, and other forms of support to various branches of government, statutory institutions, and NGOs in pursuit of the socio-economic growth and development objectives of all South Africans,” read its statement.
The ANC hailed the Eskom exposé by News24.
“The ANC commends media houses who conducted their own diligence and refused to simply rinse and repeat De Ruyter’s questionable behaviour on their platforms. This gives hope and a timely reassurance that media houses have a semblance of independence,” said the governing party.
Meanwhile, the DA, also in a statement on Wednesday, blamed the ANC for De Ruyter’s failure to tell Parliament the names of the politicians he alleged were behind the looting at Eskom.
The party said it was not surprised by his resistance considering the ANC’s vote against a motion for a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
