De Ruyter left bosses in the dark
Cape Town - Eskom board members and executives have distanced themselves from the so-called intelligence report commissioned by former CEO André de Ruyter into alleged malfeasance at the embattled entity.
But they were not let off the hook as MPs raised concerns about what they described as the failure to get to the bottom of De Ruyter’s allegations.
Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana stuck to his guns and told the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday that executives had not seen the report, and had no knowledge of it.
“As the board we don’t have anything in writing or in any format that articulates this intelligence report other than what we read or heard in the media.
“There is no formal documentation in our board documents that speaks to that report. We don’t know about it.”
He and other Eskom bigwigs were hauled before Scopa over allegations of corruption, theft, maladministration, sabotage, lack of consequence management, cartels, and other financial irregularities at the power utility.
These were contained in a report De Ruyter commissioned with the help of a company headed by apartheid-era police commissioner George Fivaz.
Makwana said there was a tendency to project De Ruyter as a victim or whistle-blower.
Head of security Karen Pillay said that she, too, was not privy to, or aware of, activities undertaken by Fivaz’s company.
Pillay said she was present at a NatJoints meeting at which De Ruyter briefed them on potential threats on Eskom infrastructure and acts of sabotage that necessitated law enforcement agencies to safeguard power stations and pylons.
“It was clear that the committee accepted the briefing, which resulted in the priority committee being set up in mid July.”
She confirmed that the SAPS had assigned a Brigadier Berger to engage Eskom on the sabotage and corruption matters, and that documents were made available to him in consultation with De Ruyter.
“There was no secret or intelligence report,” Pillay said.
DA Scopa member Benedicta van Minnen said the real threat to Eskom's credibility was in senior executives’ inaction.
“The interactions between the committee, the Eskom board, and law enforcement agencies earlier this week laid bare a culture of obfuscation and detachment.
These members denied knowledge of the contents of reports presented in meetings they attended, and appeared oblivious to the investigations initiated by Mr De Ruyter.
Instead, they focused on the perceived reputational damage caused by the former CEO’s interview with eNCA a few months prior.”
Current board member and former board chairperson, Malegapuru Makgoba, said members of the executive were not involved in the commissioning of the intelligence investigation.
When it was brought to his attention that De Ruyter had in a statement to Scopa said that he had reported to him about the intelligence operations in November 2022, Makgoba said that what the former CEO undertook was an operational matter because Eskom at the time was besieged with sabotage and corruption, and they were not getting enough help from law enforcement agencies.
“We left this matter to André. We regarded it as an operational issue. The SAPS and law enforcement agencies let us down and put us where we are today,” he said.
“When he decided to gather intelligence, he decided on his own without involving the executives ... The board did not sanction a particular request. This was an operational matter and he had authority to do that as group CEO.”
“It was not for the board to say ‘go and do the following’, but we wanted answers from him as leader of the executive management,” Makgoba said.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the more things were said during the briefing, the more questions arose.
“The conduct of De Ruyter may be questionable, but we should not miss an opportunity to interrogate the issues he raised.
“There are substantive issues placed on the table that speak to the heart of the problems at Eskom,” he said.
The inquiry will resume next Tuesday with Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan expected to attend.
Cape Times