{"id":496753,"date":"2023-06-18T10:59:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T08:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=496753"},"modified":"2023-06-18T11:01:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T09:01:10","slug":"the-eskom-cover-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/investing\/496753-the-eskom-cover-up.html","title":{"rendered":"The Eskom cover-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former CEO Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter and other whistleblowers have exposed widespread fraud and corruption at Eskom. Instead of tackling these problems, there is a huge effort to cover them up.<\/p>\n

In his book, Truth to Power, De Ruyter exposed widespread corruption, fraud, and sabotage at the power utility.<\/p>\n

He explained how criminal networks involving high-profile politicians infiltrated all levels of Eskom\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

At every step of its supply chain, Eskom must defend itself against armed robbery, fuel theft, sabotage, and corruption.<\/p>\n

Criminal networks, for example, pay off security personnel and plant workers and force engineers and managers to create fake procurement orders for goods or services.<\/p>\n

In many cases, the corrupt procurement companies re-sell stolen Eskom parts back to the utility without any repercussions.<\/p>\n

Although De Ruyter\u2019s recent revelations made headlines, fraud and corruption at Eskom are nothing new.<\/p>\n

Eskom was a key focus area in the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, and the Gupta family featured prominently.<\/p>\n

When Cyril Ramaphosa took over from Jacob Zuma as South Africa\u2019s president in 2018, he promised Eskom\u2019s reform would be a major focus.<\/p>\n

Eskom\u2019s leadership team looked through years of records and found $1.5 billion of irregular contracts, promising to open criminal cases against senior Eskom executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to shake these cobwebs,\u201d former chairman Jabu Mabuza told reporters that year. \u201cThere may be more.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, very little has happened to root out corruption at Eskom. One reason is that the ruling party and connected politicians benefit from the malfeasance.<\/p>\n

De Ruyter provided Sydney Mufamadi and Pravin Gordhan with names of high-ranking politicians allegedly involved in corruption at the power utility.<\/p>\n

To date, none of these men wanted to reveal the names, although they have been published in the press<\/a><\/strong> with the caveat that the intelligence linking the individuals to cartels at Eskom may be unreliable.<\/p>\n

Accomplished advocate, former police superintendent, and “Applied Law for Police Officials” textbook author Cerita Joubert has since found that the intelligence was a critical first step<\/a><\/strong> from which investigations should be launched.<\/p>\n

Yet, instead of targeting politicians accused of malfeasance, the ruling party is taking aim at De Ruyter.<\/p>\n

More recently, the City Press newspaper reported that a high-ranking Eskom executive is linked to sabotage<\/a><\/strong> at power stations.<\/p>\n

What surprised many people is that the investigation into the executive and other Eskom employees has been dragging on for years. These employees are still working at Eskom.<\/p>\n

\"DA's<\/a>

Ghaleb Cachalia, DA public enterprises spokesperson. CC BY-ND 4.0: Ashraf Hendricks\/GroundUp<\/p><\/div>\n

DA public enterprises spokesperson Ghaleb Cachalia said instead of holding Eskom and other implicated parties to account, Parliament\u2019s portfolio committee helps with the cover-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the portfolio committee, there is a large number of people, and you can guess from which political party, who cover it up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cachalia said the committee members covered up for the minister, Eskom, and other government officials implicated in the problems at the power utility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not the way the portfolio committee for public enterprises should behave,\u201d Cachalia said.<\/p>\n

Cachalia\u2019s experience echoes that of De Ruyter, who said he received no help from police, related state security agencies, or the government to fight fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n

According to De Ruyter\u2019s Scopa submission, he has reported allegations and fraud and corruption to many organs of state.<\/p>\n