By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Outgoing Eskom chief executive officer (CEO) André de Ruyter has survived an attempt on his life after an assassin laced his cup of coffee with cyanide in mid-December.
According to EE Business Intelligence, De Ruyter fell sick after his cup of coffee was laced with cyanide at his Megawatt Park office in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.
The incident took place on 13 December last year, which was a day after De Ruyter resigned as Eskom CEO.
The CEO’s security detail rushed De Ruyter to a doctor after he collapsed. He was diagnosed with cyanide poisoning and received the necessary treatment.
According to the report, subsequent tests confirmed significantly elevated levels of cyanide in his body.
He confirmed that he reported the attempted murder to the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Thursday, 5 January 2023.
De Ruyter had tendered his resignation on 12 December, and it became known to the public two days later.
The incident follows the bugging of De Ruyter’s car last year.
In October, Eskom confirmed that a sophisticated bug was found under the driver’s seat when Ruyter was cleaning his vehicle.
Eskom has been cracking down on corruption and sabotage at its power stations since De Ruyter became CEO in 2020.
The power utility’s contracted investigators and the SAPS managed to nail eight perpetrators in November 2022.
Five were arrested for coal theft, including two cases of coal swapping – one of which saw the arrest of both the truck driver and his supervisor.
Eskom’s efforts to root out corruption and sabotage at its power stations also led to the arrest of two security guards who aided in diesel theft, and a maintenance contractor alleged to have sabotaged a generation unit at Camden Power Station.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemned the attempted murder of de Ruyter saying not only has he been left out to dry amidst ANC shenanigans but now criminal syndicates within Eskom are palpably hell-bent on cementing their stranglehold on Eskom that is destroying the economy.
“All this – worthy of a mafia movie – now plays out while the ANC does nothing to secure our electricity supply despite DA requests to take decisive action.
“When is this going to end? We cannot wait until 2024 when the criminal syndicate that is the ANC is removed from power. Firm and decisive action needs to be taken now. The trouble is that anyone who attempts to do so is not only sidelined, but their lives are in danger, said the DA.”
The ANC meanwhile intends to play an active role in the appointment of the new Eskom Chief executive, party chairperson and energy minister Gwede Mantashe said on Saturday.
“The board that is at Eskom will conduct interviews but they will ultimately come to the cabinet, that is how it works,” Mantashe said.
He added that the board must weigh the requirements of the utility and appoint a person with the prerequisite skills to run Eskom.
Mantashe said he could not say whether De Ruyter’s departure was a loss for Eskom, adding that he had never worked with the outgoing chief executive before.