Former Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter. File picture: African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) said on Tuesday that former Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter furnished his corruption report at the power utility after he went public with his allegations in a television interview.
Briefing the standing committee on public accounts’s (Scopa) inquiry into allegations made by De Ruyter about cartels, syndicates and implication of senior politicians, DPCI head, Godfrey Lebeya, said there were three investigations linked to De Ruyter.
Lebeya said the one case related to the alleged poisoning case in which De Ruyter is a complainant; and his alleged failure to lodge a Section 34 report in terms of Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (Precca) lodged by Build One South leader Mmusi Maimane.
He also said a Precca report was submitted on April 25, 2023 by a firm of attorneys on behalf of De Ruyter.
“It is important to note that this is the first Section 34 report that was reported to the Central Reporting Office on behalf of Mr De Ruyter in relation to Eskom corruption allegations.
“It was received a day before Mr De Ruyter appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts,” Lebeya said.
He also said the DPCI had through Major General Gerber, the provincial head of DPCI in Mpumalanga, reached out to De Ruyter immediately after his media interview to ascertain the information first hand as a courtesy call.
“Mr De Ruyter declined to meet Major General Gerber, but referred him to his lawyer, Mr Willem Janse van Rensburg, who promised to talk to Mr De Ruyter and revert to the DPCI.
“Unfortunately the promise was not fulfilled,” he said.
Lebeya also said the rest of the investigations would continue.
Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Andy Mothibi said as the corruption busting body investigated corruption at Eskom, it had engaged with the power utility’s management.
“In this case, since the commencement of investigation at Eskom, the SIU met the CEO and other officials to give an update of SIU investigation so that they understand invoices for payment.
“The SIU provides a written monthly report on the status of its investigation,” Mothibi said.
However, Mothibi said De Ruyter had written to the SIU requesting the corruption-busting body to undertake specific investigations.
“We processed a proclamation to cover some areas and a proclamation was issued recently. It covers all of the power stations at Eskom.
“This really indicates the extent of the work with the CEO and Eskom management,” he said.
Mothibi told Scopa the allegations made by De Ruyter in a television interview were never brought to the attention of SIU by either the former CEO or Eskom officials.
“What we did after the publication of the interview, we made several attempts to contact the former CEO, however, our contacts were to no avail as he did not respond to our calls,” Mothibi said.
SAPS’ lieutenant-general Peter Jacobs confirmed to Scopa that De Ruyter held two meetings with police management in June 2022 and July 2022.
Jacobs said no specific information containing elements that would enable the SAPS to open criminal investigations were conveyed during the meetings.
“Reference to criminal activity within and related to Eskom was always generic, and more strategic of content, rather indicating trends.
“The only specific case raised by Mr De Ruyter with the national commissioner outside the meeting of July 5, 2022 related to Mr Matshela Koko,” he said, adding that national commissioner Fannie Masemola had raised the matter with the DPCI head.
The case was, however, under investigation by the Investigative Directorate (ID). Mr Koko and associate co-accused were arrested on October 27, 2022 and are on bail.
During the Scopa inquiry, the law enforcement agencies briefed the MPs about their investigations into corruption at Eskom.
Cape Times