De Ruyter is right: Criminal syndicates could sink Eskom and SA

Experts say the lack of political will to act against the alleged criminal syndicates and sabotage involved in Eskom could result in South Africa becoming a failed state.

Political analyst Professor Andre Duvenhage agreed with outgoing Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter that without the country’s political leadership acting drastically against organised crime, the impact could be catastrophic for South Africa.

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‘Direct link’ between politicians and crime syndicates

“SA is a failing state and within the framework we are getting more organised criminality.”

“And there is no doubt the political world is not fighting crime syndicates because there is a direct connection between politicians and criminal activities,” Duvenhage said.

On Friday, De Ruyter said “with the support of law firm ENSafrica, we are conducting a full assessment of the crime risk management landscape within Eskom, including combating bribery and corruption, financial crime, physical assets crime, cybercrime and anti-money laundering.

“The intention is [that a crime risk management programme will be embedded as part of Eskom’s standard operating procedures,” De Ruyter said.

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“While crime remains such a significant part of our landscape, we will have to play the role of policeman because of failures in our law enforcement to bring perpetrators to book and to particularly conduct appropriate intelligence operations to prevent crime happening in the first instance,” he said.

State capture didn’t end with Guptas

Duvenhage said de Ruyter could not ensure stable electricity with criminal syndicates promoting their interests, and that although state capture by the Guptas may have stopped, the country was still being stripped bare.

Jakkie Cilliers, the head of African Futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, said it was a little extreme to say SA was a failing state solely based on Eskom, while EE Business Intelligence managing director Chris Yelland said he believed it could take six months or longer to find a replacement for De Ruyter.

Eskom is expected to suffer a net loss of more than R20 billion in 2023, said De Ruyter.

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za
– Additional reporting by Amanda Watson