All eyes on Minister Pravin Gordhan’s meeting with Scopa on De Ruyter’s allegations
Cape Town - All eyes will be on Parliament today as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan appears before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) to discuss former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s disclosures.
The committee wants to get more information on the allegations made by De Ruyter, who told Scopa to contact Gordhan, the Hawks and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national security adviser Sydney Mufamadi for further details on the allegations he made in the eNCA interview.
De Ruyter, who this week published a book, Truth to Power, about his three years at Eskom, told Scopa he reported the identity of a high-ranking politician involved in criminal activities in Eskom to Gordhan, Mufamadi and the Hawks.
Minister Gordhan’s appearance before Scopa follows former Eskom interim board chairperson Professor Malegapuru Makgoba’s revelations last week.
Makgoba, who backed up De Ruyter’s version of events, told the committee that De Ruyter had informed him of an intelligence operation at the entity.
He said De Ruyter had also told ministers Gordhan, Bheki Cele and Gwede Mantashe of alleged corruption at Eskom’s power stations as far back as July last year.
Makgoba said De Ruyter had also informed Mufamadi and Ramaphosa about corruption and sabotage at Eskom.
DA Scopa member Benedicta van Minnen said: “Gordhan and Mufamadi were privy to these allegations but do not seem motivated to pursue the matter; the DA demands to know why.”
At their appearance the day before, the Hawks told Scopa that De Ruyter only reported his suspicions of crime at the power utility to them on April 25, the eve of his appearance before Parliament.
In his testimony, Makgoba said the law enforcement agencies had let Eskom down: “If SAPS and the Hawks had done their work effectively and efficiently, we wouldn’t be meeting here with this committee.”
Ahead of De Ruyter’s appearance before Scopa to elaborate on his allegations of corruption at the power utility, Gordhan told Parliament that De Ruyter had a duty to report corruption to the Hawks.
Gordhan was responding to EFF MP Omphile Maotwe, who had asked whether after De Ruyter claimed that he had informed Gordhan about criminal activities by a senior government official in relation to Eskom’s coal contracts, he took steps to ensure that the former executive reported it.
Gordhan said that when De Ruyter advised him of further investigations, he understood that law enforcement, specifically the Hawks, was involved in the investigation. He said there were initiatives in Eskom after the state capture period to identify corrupt individuals, contracts and payments.
“I have no additional knowledge or evidence of ‘criminal activities by a senior government official in relation to Eskom coal contracts’ referred to in the question,” Gordhan said.
On Tuesday, May 23, the committee is scheduled to meet Mufamadi.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za