State capture did not end when the Guptas left South Africa, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said on Friday evening.
De Ruyter was speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, with the Wits School of Governance.
“It is clear that there are still networks established which are still invested in the fruits they reaped during that [prior] era,”
“The first surprise I got when I joined Eskom was how an air of normality was created in board documents. For example, this struck one when you read these documents relating to the Tegeta/Brakfontein transaction which caused Eskom losses of about R3.8 billion.”
Decisions at board level were not clearly minuted and led to an atmosphere of ambiguity, which created a lot of space for “creative interpretations” of what the board decided.
There were also “endless committees” for processes to go through, creating a semblance of good governance, but those with vested interests still looking out for one another, said De Ruyter.
De Ruyter said that the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) does not lend itself to proper governance. ‘The PFMA is great for buying stationery for government departments, but if you try to run something like Eskom it is just not fit for purpose.’
Another obstacle is the difficulty of firing someone working for Eskom.‘The culture of impunity and entitlement surprised me. It is as though people have the approach that, if they have been at Eskom for many years, you cannot get rid of them.’
On external political interference he said ‘Interests of ministers and former presidents were applied through the board and through members of management being instructed to appoint certain people and give favour to certain suppliers – and that creates a slippery slope.’
Eskom’s current board still lacks engineering and accounting expertise.