Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Public Enterprises, claims he is not aware of any cartels behind Eskom’s power station sabotage, as alleged by the utility’s former CEO André de Ruyter.
De Ruyter recently made news after an interview with eNCA in which the former Eskom CEO made multiple charges of malfeasance and criminality within state-owned corporations (SOEs).
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De Ruyter alleged, among other things, that he was aware of four crime cartels operating in Mpumalanga and seeking to destabilise Eskom because the majority of the utility’s power stations are in the province.
He said that much of the corruption at Eskom stemmed from coal theft and fraud.
According to reports, two unnamed ministers – “henchman” and “assassin” – are tied to the cartels.
According to City Press, the cartels engage in “illicit processes” by exchanging good-quality coal destined for Eskom for low-quality coal.
Certain personnel of the South African Police Service (Saps) are also suspected of working with the cartels, which include the Presidential Cartel, the Mesh-Kings Cartel, the Legendaries Cartel, and the Chief Cartel.
Other intelligence says that Eskom managers, in conjunction with the cartels, purposely recruit staff with little experience and assign them to vulnerable power stations where units are prone to failure until they fail, according to the Daily Maverick.
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Aside from the rigging of tender processes, much of the crime and corruption may be traced back to Eskom’s coal supply network.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Gordhan denied knowing about the cartels, instead admitted that he was aware of corruption at Eskom and other SOEs.
“Do I know about the so-called four cartels? No. Do we all know that there are people mischievously mixing coal with stones? Yes. Have I been given names of companies? No,” he said.
“There are businesses on the other side of the equation as well and in fact very little has been said about business culpability in this entire process.”
According to the minister, “corrupt elements inside and outside of Eskom in each of the areas where money can be made” exist.
He also suggested that police might be on the cartels’ payroll. “Anybody can be bribed if you [are] willing to be bribed, but on the other hand you need to give account of the fact that the police have discovered at least three of many yards where good coal leaves the mine, deposited in this yard, mixed with bad coal or stones and then transported to Eskom’s power stations.”
Gordhan confirmed that De Ruyter informed him about the criminal activities at Eskom.
“Mr De Ruyter was the CEO, I’m the minister responsible for Eskom and we have discussed corruption and the involvement of various people, not necessarily by name, in corruption in one form or another.
“Yes, he has made allusions about certain individuals but it was precisely that, allusions. And as far as the law is concerned, as far as my understanding of the law is concerned, I can’t just arbitrarily point to someone and say that person is involved in whatever the suggestion is.”
He, however, stated that he could not rely on “rumour, suspicion or even what a specific media calls intelligence”.
“There’s a distinction between that and evidence,” the minister said, adding that if De Ruyter had evidence of misconduct, he needed to submit it to police authorities.
Meanwhile, De Ruyter has been given seven days by the African National Party (ANC) to prove and report his corruption charges to the police.
If the former Eskom CEO does not comply, the ruling party will take legal action.
Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Public Enterprises, claims he is not aware of any cartels behind Eskom’s power station sabotage, as alleged by the utility’s former CEO André de Ruyter.
De Ruyter recently made news after an interview with eNCA in which the former Eskom CEO made multiple charges of malfeasance and criminality within state-owned corporations (SOEs).
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De Ruyter alleged, among other things, that he was aware of four crime cartels operating in Mpumalanga and seeking to destabilise Eskom because the majority of the utility’s power stations are in the province.
He said that much of the corruption at Eskom stemmed from coal theft and fraud.
According to reports, two unnamed ministers – “henchman” and “assassin” – are tied to the cartels.
According to City Press, the cartels engage in “illicit processes” by exchanging good-quality coal destined for Eskom for low-quality coal.
Certain personnel of the South African Police Service (Saps) are also suspected of working with the cartels, which include the Presidential Cartel, the Mesh-Kings Cartel, the Legendaries Cartel, and the Chief Cartel.
Other intelligence says that Eskom managers, in conjunction with the cartels, purposely recruit staff with little experience and assign them to vulnerable power stations where units are prone to failure until they fail, according to the Daily Maverick.
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Aside from the rigging of tender processes, much of the crime and corruption may be traced back to Eskom’s coal supply network.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Gordhan denied knowing about the cartels, instead admitted that he was aware of corruption at Eskom and other SOEs.
“Do I know about the so-called four cartels? No. Do we all know that there are people mischievously mixing coal with stones? Yes. Have I been given names of companies? No,” he said.
“There are businesses on the other side of the equation as well and in fact very little has been said about business culpability in this entire process.”
According to the minister, “corrupt elements inside and outside of Eskom in each of the areas where money can be made” exist.
He also suggested that police might be on the cartels’ payroll. “Anybody can be bribed if you [are] willing to be bribed, but on the other hand you need to give account of the fact that the police have discovered at least three of many yards where good coal leaves the mine, deposited in this yard, mixed with bad coal or stones and then transported to Eskom’s power stations.”
Gordhan confirmed that De Ruyter informed him about the criminal activities at Eskom.
“Mr De Ruyter was the CEO, I’m the minister responsible for Eskom and we have discussed corruption and the involvement of various people, not necessarily by name, in corruption in one form or another.
“Yes, he has made allusions about certain individuals but it was precisely that, allusions. And as far as the law is concerned, as far as my understanding of the law is concerned, I can’t just arbitrarily point to someone and say that person is involved in whatever the suggestion is.”
He, however, stated that he could not rely on “rumour, suspicion or even what a specific media calls intelligence”.
“There’s a distinction between that and evidence,” the minister said, adding that if De Ruyter had evidence of misconduct, he needed to submit it to police authorities.
Meanwhile, De Ruyter has been given seven days by the African National Party (ANC) to prove and report his corruption charges to the police.
If the former Eskom CEO does not comply, the ruling party will take legal action.