African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula has expressed outrage at André de Ruyter, the former Eskom CEO, attributing issues plaguing the troubled electricity parastatal to the governing party.
Mbalula believes De Ruyter has been using others as a scapegoat to cover up his own blunders.
If De Ruyter cannot give evidence to back up his accusations of corruption against the ruling party, then Mbalula has warned that he will take legal action against him.
Mbalula wrote on Twitter, “We must be conscious of why he is only bringing up these far-fetched allegations after he departs Eskom.
“We have never condemned De Ruyter as the ANC. We defended this man, we stood by him to the last moment, even when it was difficult to keep the lights on. But it’s quite clear that when you are faced with a heap of failure, you find an easy scapegoat, ”Mbalula tweeted.
De Reyter had claimed during an interview with eNCA’s Annika Larsen on Wednesday that a disingenuous ANC MP was accountable for Eskom’s deficiencies.
De Ruyter recently acknowledged that the ANC viewed Eskom as “a cash-cow.” He continued on to state, “I had alerted” the Cabinet Minister that “there was one particular top-ranking politician that was involved in this.
Rather than taking the sensational accusation seriously, the Minister allegedly said, “It was only a matter of time before this information was made public,” said De Ryter suggesting that the ANC is aware of who is guilty.
De Ruyter further claims the “high-ranking politician” behind the theft at Eskom is an active ANC MP.
According to Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen, De Ruyter brought to light the ANC-caused Eskom crisis and was promptly dismissed solely because he verified what South Africans already knew, that Luthuli House is the epicenter of the power utility wrongdoing and President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet are the culprits.
De Ruyter resigned on December 12, 2022, as Eskom CEO. The following day at work, he drank a cup of coffee that had unknowingly to him been laced with cyanide. After he received medical treatment, a case of attempted murder was opened with the South African Police Service.
In December 2022, power cuts reached their most severe levels ever.
That same month, it emerged that De Ruyter had been criticized by Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Chairperson of the ANC. Mantashe called De Ruyter a ‘policeman’ and accused Eskom of ‘agitating for the overthrow of the state’. After these remarks were reported, De Ruyter resigned in December 2022, citing a loss of support from ‘the broader political economy’.
It was decided he would stay until March of this year until a suitable replacement had been identified. However, his time in office was abruptly terminated when the Eskom Board asked him to step down on Thursday, apparently following his vehement accusations.
Calib Cassim, the chief financial officer at Eskom, has been assigned as interim CEO.
The energy firm announced on Friday that he would take up the post and will occupy it until further notice.
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