Former Eskom chief refuses to name high-level politicians linked to corruption

The former chief executive of South Africa’s broken Eskom electricity monopoly refused to name politicians alleged to be involved in looting of the blackout-plagued utility, in his first appearance before South African lawmakers since he was removed from his role.

André de Ruyter told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that he stood by an explosive claim before his sacking this year that a high-level politician was involved in graft at Eskom, but said that he wanted to avoid compromising any ongoing investigations by giving names.

De Ruyter, who has said than an attempt was made last year to poison him with cyanide-laced coffee, also cited alleged “security risks” and threats of legal action against him for not giving the information, which he referred to in a TV interview in February.

Eskom’s woes, caused by rampant corruption and the collapse of its fleet of coal power plants, have led to regular rolling blackouts in Africa’s most industrialised nation.

But de Ruyter’s claims of senior political links caused a storm in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress, which launched legal action against him. He was fired by Eskom’s board soon after the interview aired, ahead of his planned exit.

The ANC and its government ministers have said de Ruyter failed to turn around the performance of plants that constantly break down.

The government has been promising new plans to both resurrect the plants and find more private supplies, but it has also encountered multiple setbacks, including Ramaphosa’s appointment of an electricity minister without formal powers.

“There appears to be a senior politician involved . . . [but] I would be very loath to compromise any ongoing investigations,” de Ruyter told MPs, adding that he had made the government and law enforcement aware of the claims. “I am more than willing to assist them in their investigations,” he said.

“It appears that politicians are involved at a number of levels, so I wouldn’t characterise it as being confined to a particular individual,” he added.

An investigation by South Africa’s News24 has alleged that de Ruyter relied on suspect private intelligence for his TV interview claims about senior politicians. One of the investigators in a probe that he instigated, which was funded by South African businesses, was a former apartheid operative, the outlet reported.

MPs on Wednesday accused de Ruyter of failing to follow up on police investigations into corruption and criticised his refusal to name names.

“We have seen progress” in combating corruption at Eskom, including dozens of arrests and crackdowns on sites where coal intended for the monopoly’s power plants were stolen, de Ruyter said.

De Ruyter also raised the legacy of previous politically linked looting of Eskom in the hearing. Alleged payments to an ANC front company by Japan’s Hitachi for multibillion US dollar Eskom contracts over a decade ago “have never been fully investigated in South Africa”, he said. 

Hitachi paid a fine in 2015 to settle US regulatory allegations of corruption over the payments, without admitting or denying the claims. The ANC has denied corruption.

Mpho Makwana, Eskom’s chair, said this week that the utility had shortlisted five candidates to replace de Ruyter. Calib Cassim, the former chief financial officer, has been serving as acting chief executive.