Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Veronica Mente says the only way to get accurate information about alleged criminal activity at Eskom is a parliamentary inquiry.
This follows the appearance of the former CEO of a power utility, Andre de Ruyter, before the committee on Wednesday. He was providing more information to Members of Parliament (MPs) about allegations of corruption, criminal cartels, and other financial irregularities at the SOE. De Ruyter made these allegations during a media interview earlier this year.
However, MPs were not satisfied with De Ruyter’s answers.
Mente says an inquiry is needed. “I think a proper inquiry is the best platform. If it is conducted legally, it will ill force people to speak the truth and to be honest. Do not try to short-circuit us.”
Meanwhile, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) wants several people to appear before it to gain more information regarding criminal activities at Eskom, as revealed by de Ruyter.
Scopa’s chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa says Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Presidential Advisor Sydney Mufamadi are first on the list.
“Before we conclude on an inquiry, we need to get hold of Eskom’s board Minister Pravin Gordhan Sydney Mufamadi, the Auditor General, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority and only then we can take a decision.”
De Ruyter said he could not corroborate or provide more detail about some of his allegations as he did not have documents and other material that remained with Eskom or law enforcement bodies. He said some of the sources through which he learned of alleged unlawful activities feared for their safety.
An Eskom spokesperson said the company noted “that nothing new surfaced from today’s appearance of Andre de Ruyter at Parliament that is not already dealt with by law enforcement agencies”.
Senior ANC official Fikile Mbalula has rejected the corruption claims de Ruyter levelled against the ruling party and labelled him a failure as CEO.
Source: SABC
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