Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly said that he is “in the dark” about the identities of ministers allegedly involved in corruption at Eskom.
Ramaphosa said he had not been briefed about the identities of the ministers.
“I was not briefed about the identities of people who are allegedly involved in cartels in Eskom,” Ramaphosa said, in response to a parliamentary question from the DA.
Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter revealed during a television interview that he had informed a Cabinet minister about Eskom corruption involving senior politicians.
De Ruyter alleged 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.
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“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.
He alleged that at least R1 billion was stolen at Eskom every month.
But Ramaphosa said that neither the national security advisor, Sydney Mufamadi, or Minister Pravin Gordhan, whose department is responsible for Eskom, had told him about the identities of the two ministers who were allegedly connected to the cartels.
The president said he was advised that in terms of section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, De Ruyter “was a person who holds a position of authority” and therefore, had a duty to report corrupt transactions to any police official.
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“Once any such person has presented evidence to an appropriate law enforcement agency, such agency should take whatever action it deems relevant,” Ramaphosa said.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said Ramaphosa’s response showed that had instituted no investigative action into a series of very serious allegations made by De Ruyter.
“In true Ramaphosa fashion, the president has shirked responsibility entirely by sitting on his hands and doing nothing.
“Instead, President Ramaphosa has not only ignored the public’s plea to rid Eskom of corruption and fix the load shedding disaster, but also proven to the entire country that despite his renewed mandate at the ANC’s National Conference in December last year, he is unable to clean up and clean out his party and his government, both of which continue to inflict increasing misery and suffering on our country and its people,” Gwarube said.
He added: South Africans expect their president to take such allegations seriously, immediately suspend any of the Cabinet ministers facing such allegations, and launch an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. Instead, it is business-as-usual for President Ramaphosa.
De Ruyter is due to appear before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in the National Assembly next week, where his allegations will be tested and unpacked.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
