Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says there’s evidence which shows that the ANC sees Eskom as an ‘eating trough’.
This was revealed in an interview for eNCA on Tuesday with journalist Annika Larsen.
‘I expressed my concern to a senior government minister about attempts – in my view – to water down governance around the 8.5 billion US dollars that, by and large through Eskom intervention, we got at COP26.
‘The response was essentially, “you know, you have to be pragmatic – in order to pursue the greater good, you have to enable some people to eat a little bit”. So yes, I think it is entrenched.’
The minister wasn’t named, but De Ruyter confirmed that he was still in government. The attitude of ministers towards alleged corruption was blasé.
‘When we pointed out that there was one particular high-level politician that was involved in this, the minister in question looked at the senior official and said, “I guess it was inevitable that this would come out anyway.”’
‘They [the ANC] want what will win them the next election – not what will keep the country going for the next two decades. I think that balance has been disturbed by turning Eskom into a state-owned entity under the direct control of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). That department has played a very interventionist role, micromanagement even, at Eskom.’
The ANC’s roots in communism confuses diplomats and disincentivises investment. They say, ‘We haven’t heard this kind of language since the fall of the Berlin Wall – what does this mean? How do these people think?’
According to De Ruyter, high-level criminality at Eskom is closely tied to politics, placing significant initiatives at risk.
One explanation for the pushback against a Just Energy Transition is that there is no clear path ‘showing a way for the comrades to eat’.