Twist in Eskom mafia hunt

Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati said the utility’s board has yet to find any evidence of mafias following allegations from its former CEO that there are at least four looting the utility.
During a 2023 interview, former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter made significant allegations regarding extensive corruption and maladministration within Eskom during his tenure from January 2020 to December 2022.
He estimated that Eskom was losing approximately R1 billion monthly due to corruption, a figure he described as conservative.
In addition, De Ruyter revealed that he commissioned a privately funded forensic investigation in January 2022, engaging George Fivaz Forensic and Risk (GFFR).
The investigation, costing around R17.1 million, aimed to uncover organized crime activities targeting Eskom, particularly in Mpumalanga.
The report’s findings indicated the existence of at least four cartels — namely the Presidential Cartel, the MeshKings Cartel, the Legendaries Cartel, and the Chief Cartel — each allegedly controlling specific power stations.
“We know of at least four organised crime cartels operating in Mpumalanga operating in Eskom,” he said in the interview with eNCA.
“Some of them also have an interest in Transnet, which we see in our inability to use rail to get coal to the Majuba power station.”
“They have a hit squad of between sixty and seventy highly trained and well-armed people. People get assassinated in Mpumalanga.”
“The media may have become desensitised to the killings, but pretty much every week, there is an assassination.”
However, the legitimacy of De Ruyter’s claims and the report he commissioned have been called into question.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) accused De Ruyter of maladministration, asserting that he lacked the necessary authorisation from the Eskom board to commission such an inquiry.
The SIU also raised concerns about the involvement of external entities like Business Leadership South Africa and GFFR in investigating a state institution without proper authority.

In its latest annual report, Eskom revealed that it appointed an independent legal firm to obtain the private intelligence dossiers resulting from De Ruyter’s investigation.
Eskom said it did not have access to the information gathered through the investigation De Ruyter commissioned.
The investigation was also aimed at assisting the Eskom Board in addressing matters arising from allegations made in the dossiers and De Ruyter’s book.
“Despite the lack of evidence presented in the dossiers, the legal firm is consolidating the findings to aid in identifying matters for further investigation,” Eskom said.
The legal team also compared them to matters that were already subject to active investigations to optimise remediation efforts.
“We are cooperating with all external investigations and inquiries related to these matters,” Eskom said.
While De Ruyter’s claims are being investigated, Nyati said in a recent interview with the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) that the current board has yet to find evidence of mafias in Eskom.
“Instead, we have found evidence of corrupt individuals linked to external contractors. We have moved away from making generalisations about our staff as useless or corrupt,” he said.
“Painting everybody with the same brush is just wrong. The majority of our employees are honest people.”
However, he said that stemming the tide of corruption is a critical priority for the board.
“We have established a project management unit in the Office of the CEO to drive consequence management and collaborate with agencies such as the SIU and the police in investigating fraud and corruption.”
“We have gathered detailed data through artificial intelligence and related technologies to monitor and connect the dots, identify individuals involved in corruption, and create a clearer picture of what is happening.”
Eskom’s latest results showed that over the last financial year:
- 7,132 incidents were registered through reporting channels for assessment on the forensic case management system.
- 380 cumulative cases were under investigation at year-end, relating to current and prior years.
- 195 new cases were registered for forensic investigation.
- 120 forensic investigations were concluded.
“Regrettably, our forensic investigations have revealed themes similar to those of previous years,” Eskom said.
This includes procurement and recruitment irregularities, failure to declare conflicts of interest and other corrupt and fraudulent activities.
This article was first published by Daily Investor and is reproduced with permission.