André de Ruyter wrong about corruption at Kusile — Minister of Electricity
Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told media on Monday that the problems at Eskom’s Kusile power station have nothing to do with corruption and are purely technical.
Ramokgopa embarked on a power station tour on Monday, beginning at Kriel and Duvha.
On Tuesday, he visited Kusile and Kendal, while today, he plans to visit Camden and the infamous Tutuka power station.
“When I was asked this question about the alleged corruption in Eskom [after being appointed], I said give me an opportunity to go and engage at the station level,” Ramokgopa said.
This was so he could “have an appreciation of the manifestation of corruption — if it does indeed exist.”
Ramokgopa said he will still meet with unions and is certain they will raise other issues.
However, from the issues that have been raised, Ramokgopa was confident that Kusile’s problems were technical in nature.
He said Kusile’s management outlined the modifications they are proposing to the power station’s flue gas desulphurisation system, and that he is “very happy” with them.
These modifications will ensure that the problems at Kusile don’t recur, Ramokgopa said.
Kgosientso Ramokgopa during a visit to Kusile Power Station on Tuesday, 22 March 2023
Ramokgopa’s comments come after former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter alleged in February that ANC-linked corruption was the origin of Kusile’s problems.
His response that Kusile’s problems are technical and not due to corruption is a non sequitur.
Yes, Kusile has technical problems, but De Ruyter alleged that those issues were caused by ANC corruption.
A section of the flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) duct, which carries emissions from Kusile Unit 1 into a large chimney, collapsed in October 2022.
Because Unit 2 and Unit 3 are also connected to the chimney, they were taken offline to conduct repairs.
That resulted in the loss of a potential 2,400MW of capacity — worth over two stages of load-shedding.
Stated differently, South Africa would not currently be experiencing load-shedding if Kusile had not broken down.
The collapse was brought on because Eskom management reportedly ignored the build-up of sludge and hard crust in the flue gas duct.
According to an internal Eskom report, unnamed bosses at Megawatt Park gave verbal instructions to return the unit to service and operate it at its maximum capacity of 800MW.
That was even though a faulty baghouse filter meant to capture fly ash was causing a cement-like sludge to build up inside the flue-gas duct.
Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter with President Cyril Ramaphosa during a guided tour of Tutuka power station in 2022. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and energy minister Gwede Mantashe are standing behind them.
However, De Ruyter said the baghouse filter was only part of the problem.
“There was carry-over from the flue gas desulphurisation unit because the exhaust gas temperature from the boiler supplied by Hitachi [Power Africa] is too high.”
De Ruyter highlighted that Hitachi was in a joint venture with Chancellor House, the investment arm of the ANC.
“As will become apparent in the near future, there was substantial manipulation of design criteria in order to ensure that Hitachi got that tender,” he said.
“But, fact of the matter is, if the contract had initially been awarded correctly, without corruption, we would not have had the severity of load-shedding that we have right now.”
The fact that Chancellor House was set up to fund the ANC by taking a cut of some government contracts is not new.
Mail & Guardian and the Institute for Security Studies revealed the link between the ANC and Chancellor House in 2006.
Investigative journalists also exposed a conflict of interest in 2008 when they found that then-Eskom board chair Valli Moosa also served on the ANC’s fundraising committee.
Moosa presided over the board when the contracts were awarded to Hitachi and, by extension, Chancellor House.
The ANC and Hitachi have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
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