Page 5 - AfrElec Week 09 2023

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

De Ruyter also said it appeared that Cabinet cartels operating in Mpumalanga at Eskom.
members were aware of and accepted wide- Some of them also have an interest in [the state-
spread corruption at the struggling power util- owned rail freight and ports logistics utility]
ity. One of the most significant allegations made Transnet, and we see that in our inability to rail
by the former CEO in the interview related to coal to the Medupe power station, where we
a “particular high-level politician” who was don’t have enough electric locomotives because
involved in corrupt activity. When De Ruyter the overheard lines are stolen,” he stated..
reported this to a government minister, he was “It’s interesting that they have adopted the
met with a blasé response. language of the mafia. People are called soldiers,
“The minister in question looked at a senior and they have a hit squad, allegedly with between
official and said, ‘I guess it was inevitable that this 60 and 70 highly trained, well-armed people,” De
would come out anyway’. Which suggests that Ruyter said, adding that people who attempted
this was not news,” he said. to act against these criminals were killed “pretty
De Ruyter also accused ANC members of much every week.” He alleged that the lack of
being more interested in short-term political action against individuals Eskom had linked
gains than in the long-term sustainability for to the criminal syndicates suggested politicians
the country. “They want what will win them the were involved.
next election – not what will keep the country He added that low-paid staff such as clean-
going for the next two decades. I think that bal- ers could be paid ZAR5,000 ($270) by a cartel to
ance has been disturbed by turning Eskom into drain the oil out of a gearbox so it eventually fails,
a state-owned entity under the direct control of and a certain contractor would then be called out
the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE),” to repair the gearbox.
he said. De Ruyter also pointed to what he called
He claimed the ANC’s roots in communism, the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) inad-
which focuses on state control, often confused equate response when Eskom handed over
diplomats and disincentivised potential inves- suspects and evidence of their involvement in
tors. “There’s a narrative that the state should criminal activities at its power stations. We know of
control everything. Unfortunately, the ghosts In one instance, he said, the utility stopped
of Marx and Lenin haunt the halls of Luthuli the theft of ZAR100mn per month in fuel oil at least four
House [ANC headquarters]. People are still at Tutuka Power Station and identified the two organised crime
firmly committed to a 1980s-style ideology. individuals allegedly responsible before hand-
They still address one another as ‘comrade’,” he ing them over to the police. “They were released cartels operating
added. the following morning on frankly, derisory, bail
“When such individuals talk to foreign diplo- of ZAR500. That’s where the matter ended,” De in Mpumalanga
mats and foreign investors, the puzzlement with Ruyter said.
which they leave those meetings is really a detri- He also mentioned syndicates engaged in the at Eskom.
ment to South Africa’s credibility.” theft of coal, diesel and infrastructure, and talked
about dodgy contracts and procurement irregu-
Organised crime larities, painting a grim picture that the SOE was Andrè de Ruyter
According to de Ruyter, two factors significantly under siege by high-level criminality. Former CEO, Eskom
weakened Eskom’s ability to run its power sta- When asked how the loot from Eskom was
tions optimally: coal theft cartels and infra- being spent, De Ruyter told Larsen that it went
structure saboteurs in Mpumalanga province. towards a “very conspicuous consumption”.
De Ruyter said there were also signs of political According to his informants, in Mpumalanga, a
interference limiting Eskom’s response to these car dealership was allegedly offering an “inno-
threats, reports MyBroadband, another local vative service” whereby people can “park” their
media platform. Maseratis or McLarens and get them dropped off
“We know of at least four organised crime when they want to drive them. “If you register it

Week 09 01•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P5