Disgraced former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter on Wednesday appeared before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) where many expected him to drop bombshells about alleged malfeasance at the power utility.
However, the anti-climax was when De Ruyter ducked most of the direct questions posed by MPs formulated from incomplete information he dropped in the public domain through an interview with e.tv about two months ago.
His dismal performance before Scopa during the three-hour grilling frustrated helpless MPs who, despite rephrasing their questions multiple times, De Ruyter pleaded the fifth.
“You have heard what Mr De Ruyter said, he has fielded questions, albeit straight answers have not been forthcoming,” said Scopa chair Mkhuleko Hlengwa after the session that was cut short to allow De Ruyter time to attend to “a commitment I cannot get out of”.
ANC’s Bheki Hadebe fired the very first question seeking to get the name of the minister De Ruyter once alleged had told him “in order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some of the people to eat a little bit”, during which time he was complaining to the politician about organised crime syndicates feasting on Eskom.
“This was not a response related to general fraud and corruption at Eskom. It was a response to a concern that I expressed to the minister and other individuals about the governance of the $8.5-billion [R156-billion] funding that South Africa obtained from Cop26 that would in large part be to the benefit of Eskom.
“It would not be appropriate for me to divulge the identity of that minister because it can be construed as general support of the corruption and theft still ongoing at Eskom,” De Ruyter answered.
Hadebe was not please and painstakingly tried to ask the question in different ways, but De Ruyter was refusing to barge, citing that “I do not have immunity” and thus “cannot expose myself to any further legal action”.
Attempts to provide De Ruyter with the immunity he wanted by taking an oath or affirmation fell on deaf ears as he rejected the offer out of hand, saying this option would not provide him with the security he needs to protect his life.
De Ruyter also could not provide an answer on who were the investigating officers of the cases he claims to have opened with police regarding corruption at Eskom.
The meeting moved on to DA’s Benedicta Maria van Minnen, who pressed him on the name of the senior politician he claimed was involved in Eskom corruption and cartels that operated at its power stations.
De Ruyter said: “With respect, I will stand by my statement that there appears to be a senior politician involved. Disclosing further information can expose me to legal risk and it is important that we do not compromise ongoing investigations.
“I would direct the committee to approach relevant law-enforcement agencies to disclose what they are able to disclose.”
EFF national chairperson Veronica Mente, seeing that the questions were tantamount to trying to draw blood from a stone, warned that Scopa may be engaging in a fruitless exercise.
She, however, tried to salvage the situation by firing her own questions.
“In which platform will he say what he was saying in the media and give us the name?” she asked.
De Ruyter retorted that he was “prepared to fully cooperate” but added that it would be “irresponsible of me” to use a public forum such as Scopa to reveal people’s names.
Only in court was he prepared to answer fully, he said, to which Mente pushed back, charging that De Ruyter was simply not willing to assist the committee.
Mente went on to ask about the “cartels” De Ruyter said operated at Eskom and where had he reported about these and when and whether he provided sworn statements?
“As I have said, I reported this to the SAPS [South African Police Service] that includes the Hawks. I also shared this with SSA [State Security Agency], who are aware of it.
“I anticipated that the process going forward they will investigate and will approach me to the extent they feel I should make a sworn statement, I have not been approached,” said De Ruyter.
The last MP to have a botte was ANC’s Sakhumzi Somyo, who posed a question about private intelligence investigations that De Ruyter had conducted within Eskom.
De Ruyter said these investigations were not funded by Eskom but by private donors.
Who were these private donors, asked Somyo.
De Ruter responded that he would “suggest that the identity of the donors remain anonymous” for theirs was part of “combating corruption and doing so in good faith”.
Futher, he believed that he was not obliged to answer this question because no public funds were used, thus “I respectfully submit that this is outside the scope of Scopa”.
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