Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has stuck to his guns that he complied with the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (Precca) by reporting looting at Eskom to senior officials, intelligence officials and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
However, De Ruyter refused to disclose the name of a senior official who was involved in corruption.
He said he shared that information with a senior minister and senior official in the presidency.
He became aware of the involvement of the senior politician in May last year when they were delving deep into corruption at Eskom.
However, he refused to say whether the senior politician was a Minister or a former Minister.
This was to prevent any legal action against him or compromise the ongoing investigation.
De Ruyter, who was appearing before Parliament’s finance watchdog the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday, said the levels of corruption and cartels at Eskom had been reported to the Hawks, the SAPS, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure and the State Security Agency.
When asked by ANC MP Bheki Hadebe to name the high-ranking official who was involved in corruption at Eskom after he spoke about allowing people to eat a little over the $8.5 billion for the Just Energy Transition funding by the international community, he said he was not at liberty to do so for legal reasons.
He said he had, nonetheless, complied with Section 34 of Precca by reporting criminal activities to relevant authorities.
“I raised this matter with the highest law enforcement officer in the country, the national commissioner. I raised it twice. I fully complied fully with the officers appointed by the national commissioner. In general, section 34 of Precca was complied with by means of my direct communication with senior police officers, including the national commissioner,” said De Ruyter.
De Ruyter also said the involvement of senior politicians and other people at Eskom showed that they had no regard for corruption.
“It speaks to a general condonation or climate where corruption or climate where corruption is tolerated and is a way of ensuring business gets done. It speaks to the approach where crime and corruption is tolerated,” said De Ruyter.
When asked by Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa to name the senior politician and whether he was in Cabinet or any other entity, he said he was not at liberty to disclose the name for legal reasons.
“A senior politician is exactly that. I stand by the issues I raised in my submission. As you can see I am at pains to avoid it. Let’s not go that path,” said De Ruyter.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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