8 March 2020
At the time of this appointment, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter inÂspired confidence, hitting all the right notes by promising to bring a culÂture of transparency and accountability to the troubled power utility.
By all accounts, De Ruyter inherited an ailing power utility, plagued by corrupÂtion due to years of state capture; a state-owned enterprise (SOE) that is not only the reason why our economy is not growÂing, but also behind the disruption of orÂdinary lives because of rolling blackouts.
To his credit, De Ruyter has been talkÂing the necessary language — engenderÂing the culture of payment for electricity and maintaining the utility’s aging powÂer stations while fixing the flaws at the news ones, Kusile and Medupi.
But yesterday, Eskom spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha, who is known to be forthright and brutally honest, was clutching at straws when called to anÂswer a simple question on the four comÂpanies De Ruyter had recommended to Eskom as possible suppliers.
De Ruyter got into hot water this week after he admitted in Parliament that he handpicked for companies to be includÂed in the pool of service providers for the entity. This was done without following processes outlined in the Public Finance Management Act or any recognisable piece of legislation.
Pressed to reveal the names of these companies, Mantshantsha refused to reÂveal the names of the companies. Therein lies the crux of the matter — hardly three months into the job, De Ruyter and MantÂshantsha are throwing out the principle of transparency and introducing a culÂture of secrecy, which breeds corruption.
It is common cause that at the heart of state capture was this modus operandi of politicians, senior bureaucrats and fixers introducing business to senior managÂers responsible for awarding of tenders.
They justify this as networking. But state capture has taught us better.
Former deputy finance minister MceÂbisi Jonas told the Zondo commission how former president Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane Zuma, had introduced him to the Guptas, who promised to give him R600m if he did their bidding.
Former CEO of Government CommuÂnication and Information System (GCIS) Themba Maseko also told the Zondo comÂmission that Zuma had tried to broker a meeting between him and the Guptas, who wanted a share of government adÂvertising.
It was the same name-dropping culture that saw former chief of protocol Bruce Koloane using Zuma’s name to pave way for more than 200 Gupta wedding guests to land at one of the country’s sensitive security points, the Waterkloof Airforce Base.
The public service is replete with exÂamples of how politicians and senior buÂreaucrats used modus operandi of introÂducing service providers to institutions as an indirect way of ensuring they seÂcured contracts.
This style of scoring contracts cut across all levels of government – from local government, provincial to nationÂal government; and from departments to state-owned enterprises.
De Ruyter has the daunting responsiÂbility of turning around this crucial SOE that has become the biggest threat to the country’s future. His handpicking of serÂvice providers and resorting to secrecy does not bode well for Eskom and us all. It has all the hallmarks of state capture.
