The DA’s John Steenhuisen has praised outgoing Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter as a “national hero” for speaking out against the parastatal in an interview with journalist Annika Larson.
De Ruyter has now left the state entities with immediate effect, although he had only been expected to leave at the end of March, following his resignation announcement in December.
READ ALSO: ATM asks De Ruyter to appear in Parliament to spill the beans on Eskom corruption
De Ruyter spoke of the mafia-like set-up within the organization and revealed how the ANC’s corruption was at the heart of the troubled electricity utility’s problems.
R1 billion is siphoned off every month
He claims at least R1 billion is being siphoned off every month from Eskom funds and corruption in the industry is deepening.
When ANC secretary general Fikile Mbabula attacked De Ruyter for his statement, Steenbuisen labeled him “courageous”.
He tweeted: “Andre De Ruyter is a national hero for having the courage and conviction to fight the criminal syndicate that is the ANC national government. I applaud and thank him for showing the courage needed to fix South Africa.”
Steenhuisen also accused the ANC of targeting De Ruyter because he blew the whistle, verifying “what South Africans already know”.
Also read: André de Ruyter leaves Eskom with immediate effect
“Andre de Ruyter blew the whistle on the ANC-created Eskom crisis and was fired with immediate effect because he verified what South Africans already knew: Luthuli House was the scene of Eskom’s crimes, and Ramaphosa and his cabinet were the perpetrators,” he said.
‘Prove what you say’ – ANC
But Mbabula challenged De Ruyter to “prove what he said”.
“Don’t hide your failures behind the ANC’s attacks because it has become fashionable,” he said.
“The ANC is telling you, if you find corruption being done in the name, by individuals, bring it to book. The ANC is not corrupt, the ANC will not protect corrupt individuals,” he said.
Mbabula also said: “We have never condemned de Ruyter as the ANC. We defended this man, we stood with him until the end, even when it was difficult to keep the lights on. But it is quite clear that when you face a pile of failures, you find an easy scapegoat.”
‘good morning’
While the Economic Freedom Fighters have yet to comment in an official capacity on de Ruyter’s interview, the party’s Floyd Shivambu commented “excellently” on De Ruyter’s announcement of his exit from Eskom with immediate effect.
The EFF certainly disagrees with De Ruyter, labeling it “useless”.
In a statement on the resignation of the former CEO, the EFF said: “Since his appointment as CEO of Eskom, De Ruyter has been keen to destroy the generation capacity of the energy utility.
Also read: WATCH: Eskom is a ‘feeding trough’ for the ANC – De Ruyter
“He goes around conferences and workshops to champion Independent power producers as if he’s a sales mascot hired by banks pumping money into renewable projects.
“They found that Eskom Medupi and Kusile are building projects at an advanced stage with challenges that could be resolved to bring them online faster, but they failed to complete the project.”