The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has decided to call senior government officials who were identified by former Eskom boss André de Ruyter, who said he shared information with them about corruption at the power utility and those implicated in it.
De Ruyter told Scopa he had given the name of the senior politician to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national security adviser Sydney Mufamadi and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
De Ruyter said he told the State Security Agency and the Hawks about the levels of corruption at Eskom’s coal-fired power stations in Mpumalanga.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said after meeting with De Ruyter it was clear that he was not budging from his stance in refusing to reveal the identity of the high-ranking politician allegedly involved in corruption.
He said De Ruyter had also told them they needed to invite the Hawks to obtain information on the progress of the investigation.
The former Eskom CEO had told members of the committee he did not want to jeopardise investigations by disclosing some of the information in public.
“The committee plans to meet these cited parties to get more information on the allegations made by Mr De Ruyter. De Ruyter has told Scopa to contact the Hawks, Mr Gordhan and Dr Mufamadi for further details on the allegations that he made in the eNCA interview. He indicated that he reported the identity of a high-ranking politician as well as individuals he referred to in his interview as allegedly involved in criminal activities in Eskom to Mr Gordhan, Dr Mufamadi and the Hawks,” said Hlengwa.
“The committee informed De Ruyter that Parliament is able to offer him protection against any legal action through the Powers and Privileges provision, but he indicated that he does not want to jeopardise the ongoing investigation by law enforcement agencies into Eskom. The committee believes that De Ruyter missed an opportunity to take the nation into his confidence on these matters,” he added.
De Ruyter had lifted the lid on levels of corruption at Eskom early this year.
He said it contributed to load shedding. He said there were also four cartels operating at the power plants.
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