Cape Town – The fight against fraud and corruption at Eskom reportedly took a dark turn after a hitman confessed that he was offered R400 000 by a senior executive at the power utility to assassinate Dorothy Mmushi, a middle manager in Eskom’s forensics department.
According to City Press, Mmushi had successfully uncovered large-scale looting by organised crime syndicates.
The hitman, in a recorded telephone call, warned Mmushi about the assassination plot and said that he had already received R50 000 as an upfront payment.
Fearing for her life, Mmushi reported the matter to Eskom, the SA Police Service, and Hawks boss General Godfrey Lebeya.
However, she feels that her pleas for protection have been ignored.
She said that Lebeya has failed to “make as little as an attempt to arrest this hitman”, while her reports to Eskom appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
“I’m terrified and shocked. I’m also disappointed in my employer because I laid a grievance, but nothing’s been done to date. I believe the man who called me was warning me of the plot to kill me,” the report quoted Mmushi as saying.
Despite having evidence of the theft and ongoing threats to her life, she hasn’t received any help or support from Eskom, the report said.
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Mmushi’s troubles began when she uncovered fraud and corruption at Eskom and refused to meet with implicated parties outside of her normal course of work.
This led to threats against her life and eventually the plot by the hitman.
The hitman provided detailed information about Mmushi’s movements and the vehicles she owns, raising concerns about the seriousness of the threat. Mmushi confirmed the accuracy of the details shared by the hitman.
The hitman had also claimed that the assassination was ordered by one of Mmushi’s colleagues.
In March, former president Jacob Zuma called on former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter to name everyone, including the ANC politicians whom he claimed were involved in corruption at the power utility.
De Ruyter alleged during a television interview that high-ranking government officials were involved in the corruption at Eskom.
He was asked if Eskom was a feeding trough for the ANC, and he said that it was.
“I would say the evidence suggests that it is. I expressed my concern to a senior government minister about attempts, in my view, to water down governance around the 8.5 billion USD that, by in large through Eskom’s intervention, we got at COP26.
“And the response was essentially, ‘you have to be pragmatic. In order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit’,” De Ruyter said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
