It seems to have felt like the political equivalent of the 19th century ghost ship, the Mary Celeste.
For more than five years, the country has not floated under the nominal control of President Cyril Ramaphosa, a man who less than three months ago was ready to throw in the towel and resign.
The most important tasks facing the president – massive political corruption and the collapse of the national power grid – are largely left unaddressed.
It is clear from Eskom’s explosive television interview with André de Ruyter last week that the two issues are inseparable.
Also read: SIU talks to De Ruyter about Eskom mafia claims, surprised he didn’t tell them earlier
The hour-long eNCA interview conducted by Annika Larsen is perhaps the most important piece of journalism yet to air on SA television. Not just because of the content. Much of what De Ruyter told eNCA has long been in the public domain.
In January 2021, he announced concerns about endemic procurement fraud, collusion with suppliers and the awarding of contracts to entities linked to the ANC. He also repeatedly cataloged the sabotage of Eskom’s operations, the preoccupations of the police, the prosecuting authority and the judges. But what is new is the political explosion.
This shows Ramaphosa’s soft shoe shuffle on corruption is fake. It also dangerously threatens the future flow of looting funds of the ANC elite and continues the daily functioning of the party depends on it.
De Ruyter described the widespread criminality uncovered by Eskom’s own comprehensive investigation. Two cabinet ministers were affected, but despite De Ruyter reporting this to members of Ramaphosa’s Cabinet – De Ruyter’s political master Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has now admitted that he was – the response was simply a shrug of the shoulders.
Also read: What is the relationship between Mmusi? – BOSA jumped on the De Ruyter bandwagon in search of relevance
On another occasion, De Ruyter unsuccessfully called for better control of the $8.5 billion (about R152.2 billion) in funds contributed by the European Union, the US and the UK to finance South Africa’s Just Energy Transition programme.
He was told by the minister: “To achieve the greater good, you must allow some people to eat a little.”
De Ruyter’s recent public actions left the ANC, public and international investors and donors nowhere to hide. It appears that the Ramaphosa government is no less corrupt than the criminal government.
De Ruyter’s three years at Eskom were a hot one. He was insulted, ridiculed, belittled, belittled and humiliated in public by ANC apparatchiks. His life and that of his family were threatened. He was poisoned. However, there was no hatred, craziness or defensiveness in the interview. This is not a political hit project.
Also read: Sacked Eskom chief executive De Ruyter ‘victim of mafia world’
On the contrary, the former chief executive of Eskom admits his shortcomings. The truth of De Ruyter’s explosive statement was reinforced by the muted initial reaction of the two men most identified with the group of anti-corruption reformers: Gordhan and Ramaphosa.
After more than a day of silence, Gordhan admitted that he was the minister who had been reported by De Ruyter about how corruption had spread to the Cabinet. He could not, said Gordhan, do anything about the “allusions”. Ramaphosa took longer to respond.
Finally, at a state reception, he was arrested by reporters. His reply was that he was disappointed that De Ruyter did not simply report “whatever he knew” to the police.
This puts us in “a world of rumors and rumours. Then we start looking at each other with suspicion,” Ramaphosa said with concern.
Also read: ANC takes a page from Goebbels’ propaganda book with De Ruyter’s threat
fNaughty, naughty Mr. De Ruyter. They surely don’t want a lot of bad suspicions poisoning the corridors of power of the ANC?