By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC), has accused the former CEO of Eskom, André de Ruyter, of attempting to tarnish its image ahead of the country’s 2024 elections.
The party released statement on Wednesday after De Ruyter appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), where Members of Parliament tried unsuccessfully to get him to reveal the names of the senior politicians he alleged in a TV interview were behind the maladministration, sabotage, and cartels at the power utility.
The ANC has also accused him of working with individuals to undermine the ANC’s credibility.
According to reports the Eskom “intelligence” files or reports made famous by De Ruyter in the TV interview were concocted by Tony Oosthuizen, a key member of an apartheid-era secret Military Intelligence unit. ‘
De Ruyter, who resigned from Eskom earlier this year, has been outspoken about the state of the energy company and its ties to the government. The energy crisis has been a major issue in South Africa for years, and many believe that the ANC has failed to address it adequately.
“The ANC will not be distracted by underhanded tactics aimed at diverting us from a determined drive to renew our organisation and encourage South Africans to continue voting for their movement in favour of safeguarding the drive towards a national democratic society,” reads the statement.
It added that several polls showed that the ANC stood a chance of winning the elections by over 50% in the national general elections.
“The likes of De Ruyter are obviously disturbed by such data to the point of soiling what otherwise could have been a clean reputation premised on his other positive contribution at Eskom.”
The ANC said law enforcement agencies had pointed out corruption at Eskom and that it had impacted the performance of the utility. The party, however, said any information about corruption at Eskom “should be verifiable and authentic”.
“At the core of unearthing information which points us to the weakest links within Eskom must be unquestionable efforts that can stand public scrutiny. Anything else will render justified and well-meaning efforts aimed at cleaning up Eskom unsuccessful, “said the party.
The ANC has also called for Business Leadership South Africa CEO and former Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso to “take the nation into its confidence and reveal how much was paid to apartheid-era agents to launder ‘rooi gevaar’ tactics and propaganda against ANC leaders”.
In the statement, the ANC said it was concerned by De Ruyter’s involvement in this.
“We are deeply concerned about reports that the erstwhile CEO solicited funds from unknown sources that were channeled through Business Leadership.