ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has repudiated former Eskom boss Andre de Ruyter’s allegations of political interference and corruption in the state-owned power utility.
This after De Ruyter pointed fingers at senior politicians for the ongoing corruption and misconduct at Eskom during an explosive TV interview earlier in the week.
De Ruyter alleged that the cash-strapped entity is fraught with political interference and corruption from senior politicians, and noted that the ANC is using the state-owned company as a “feeding trough”.
“My rough estimate of what is stolen from Eskom is about R1-billion a month and we’ve made some inroads. We’ve started closing the taps and that does not make you any friends. It is difficult to speculate on who might have wanted to make an attempt on my life, but the people with a motive, there is a pretty long list,” he said in the explosive interview.
In December 2022, De Ruyter tendered his resignation, noting that he will, however, remain on his job until March to ensure a smooth transition.
However, he was shown the door at an urgent Eskom board meeting which was held on Wednesday after the TV interview aired. Later on Wednesday, Eskom issued a statement saying the former Eskom boss had resigned “with immediate effect”.
The interview drew the attention of the governing party and Eskom board.
Mbalula quickly called a media briefing in Cape Town to extinguish the fires and labelled De Ruyter’s allegations as “unfounded, irresponsible, and baseless”.
He indicated that the public should question the former Eskom boss’ intentions, saying why De Ruyter chose to hang out the dirt taking place at Eskom only when he was leaving, while it was happening under his watch as the CEO.
He further said the ANC rejects the “unfortunate, irresponsible, and baseless” claims of political interference and corruption at the power utility”.
“He is now trying to shift the blame from his own shortcomings to other people. We must ask why he is only raising these allegations when he leaves Eskom. If he wants to become a political player and undermine the efforts of patriotic South Africans, then let him say so publicly and declare for all to know who he is aligned with,” said Mbalula.
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