The African Radical Transformation Alliance (ARETA) has described the Treasury’s decision to exempt Eskom from disclosing its financial affairs as a sad day for democracy.
The civil movement was established by former ANC leaders including the staunch ally of former president Jacob Zuma Carl Niehaus, who was expelled from the ANC late in 2022.
“ARETA notes that spending in state-owned enterprises is vulnerable not only to waste and misuse, but also to fraud and corruption. Lack of transparency is inimical to good governance,” ARETA’s secretary Nkosentsha Shezi said on Monday.
“ARETA believes sunlight is the best policy for preventing corruption and maintaining high standards of integrity in the use of public funds.
“[Finance Minister Enoch] Godongwana’s decision comes in the wake of shocking revelations by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter.”
According to De Ruyter, the entrenched corruption at Eskom was orchestrated and perpetrated by high-ranking ANC officials.
On Friday, Godongwana issued a notice in the government gazette that the embattled power utility will be exempted from disclosing it annual reports for three years commencing from the 2023/24 financial year.
Shezi lambasted the move, saying it is based on “cynical decision manipulation of processes to cover up corruption in state-owned enterprises”.
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