Whistle-blower crisis: De Ruyter’s departure exposes safety concerns

The lack of protection for whistle-blowers in South Africa continues to either place individuals’ livelihoods in danger or pushes them out of the country, with former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter yet another example.

From CEO of the embattled power utility to landing a job at a private Ivy League research university, according to a City Press report, De Ruyter is set to join Yale University in the United States as a lecturer at the end of this month.

It was understood he would deal with topics relating to renewable energy and the green economy market.

De Ruyter left Eskom at the end of February after he made incriminatory allegations about unnamed senior ANC politicians who were allegedly involved in Eskom corruption.

In May, De Ruyter released a book, Truth to Power: My Three Years inside Eskom, in which he exposed more details about corruption and incompetence at the power utility.

De Ruyter had previously made claims of an attempt on his life in December last year after his resignation, and continuously cited concerns around him and his family’s safety.

Wayne Duvenage, CEO of Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), said De Ruyter leaving the country was just another indication that in SA, the plight of whistle-blowers was not taken seriously.

There was no doubt De Ruyter had a lot of leads and information to offer the country but the authorities and politicians saw otherwise, he said.

“They did not like what they were hearing. So they castigated him and made him feel unwelcome.

“That is the problem here: we do not take these matters seriously because if we did, we would have more whistle-blowers coming forward.

“De Ruyter had a lot to share but instead of welcoming him, they called him a liar and even threatened his life, so he had to go,” Duvenage said.

“We deal with whistle-blowers often. Some can only give certain amounts of information because they fear they will be ostracised or fired and don’t want to take those risks.”

Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh said to actively combat corruption, the courageous group of people who were aware of wrongdoing and came forward required immense support and protection.

Singh said despite having a legal framework in place to protect disclosure, whistle-blowers were still badly abused and found themselves in precarious situations.

“We live in a violent country and violent crime is not uncommon. We have seen people providing information to investigations either being assassinated, or their lives being threatened. That shows we do not have a system in place which protects whistleblowers,” Singh said.

“That is why we have cases such as De Ruyter and Athol Williams who claim they have to leave the country because of the lack of security as a result of having made significant disclosures.”

Singh said there should be a reliable place in government which was independent of the police where people could report corruption and feel protected.

“We also need to look at compensation for whistle-blowers. If we’re able to make civil recoveries as a result of disclosures, we should ensure that whistle-blowers get a share of those recovered assets,” he said.

“Whistleblowers need support, which the state can provide through a dedicated fund: psychosocial and legal support. And they need physical protection.”

Across several news platforms, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan reiterated he did not view De Ruyter as a whistle-blower.

Gordhan said he was rather suffering from a messiah complex.