Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter speaks during an interview in Johannesburg on 15 November 2021. Picture: Gallo Images/Rapport/Deon Raath
The leadership style of President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under the spotlight once again, but this time in the new book of former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter.
The book, which is titled Truth to Power, My Three Years Inside Eskom, hit the shelves on Sunday and dives into De Ruyter’s tenure as the chief executive at the embattled power utility.
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In the newly released book, De Ruyter questions Ramaphosa’s management style, comparing it to “a genial country club manager”, City Press reported.
The former Eskom boss, however, acknowledges that the president “mostly good intentions”.
“You can play darts, I can play golf, someone else can play tennis – and as long as everyone’s happy and wearing the same green, black and yellow T-shirt, the president’s happy too,” a paragraph from the book reads.
De Ruyter also reportedly dived into the details of alleged crime and corruption plaguing Eskom.
In one instance, he alleges the State Security Agency (SSA) carried out an investigation, which began in 2019, into criminality and wrongdoing at the power utility, but kept the dossier secret, according to Sunday Times.
The information, De Ruyter claims, was hidden from Eskom because because a high-ranking politician demanded that it be made available only to him.
The senior politician was allegedly part of the presidential task team on Eskom.
Despite of the SSA investigation, nothing was reportedly done thereafter.
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It also turns out that Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan was the Cabinet member who allegedly said, ‘Well, I suspect it was inevitable that this would come out’, when De Ruyter disclose the names of the two politicians who were allegedly implicated in Eskom corruption.
Last month, De Ruyter refused to tell Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) about the identities of the said politicians, citing security risks and possible legal action against him.
Ramaphosa claimed during a Q&A session in the National Assembly on Thursday that he would not be in a position to investigate his own ministers as that responsibility lies with law enforcement agencies.
However, the Hawks, the South African Police Service (Saps) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) also revealed this week they were not investigating any politician.
De Ruyter further reportedly wrote he decided to initiate a intelligence investigation, which was funded by private donors, due to his mistrust of the SSA and the police.
“If I tried to use Eskom money for the planned operation, it would be Rogue Unit 2.0 in next to no time,” he noted presciently.
The R50 million investigation, which took place between January 2022 to February this year, was conducted by the investigating agency of former police commissioner George Fivaz.
News24 revealed last month that Fivaz had hired Tony Oosthuizen, a former apartheid security operative, to lead the intelligence quest.
According to the book, De Ruyter pursued the investigation after he was informed by “a trusted friend and top business executive” of plans to sabotage Eskom.
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He then told spoke to Gordhan, who allegedly supported the gathering of intelligence, about the details of the investigation in July.
The former Eskom CEO alleged that a senior police officer received instructions “from the Union Buildings” to make sure that criminals caught stealing coal in Mpumalanga were not arrested.
The officer also had to ensure the routes syndicates use to transport cash were free of roadblocks.
“Instead of gathering intelligence about saboteurs and coal thieves at Eskom’s power stations, the SSA sent an agent to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, where I spoke at COP27 about the fair transition to new energy.
“The only possible reason I could think of was that the intelligence services felt uncomfortable about what I’d uncovered in Mpumalanga,” he writes.
Meanwhile, De Ruyter reportedly spoke about how his relationship with Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana was strained from the outset.
The new board was appointed in September by Gordhan, replacing the interim board led by Malegapuru Makgoba.
The former Eskom boss said his letter of resignation was already written in October after he realised his situation with the new board was becoming untenable.
De Ruyter previously told Scopa that the constant interference by Gordhan and Eskom’s new board played a role in his decision to resign as they made it difficult for him to carry out his duties.
He resigned in December 2022 and was due to vacate his office Eskom on 31 March, but left Eskom a month earlier following an explosive interview with eNCA.
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