A South African non-governmental organisation has called on the governing African National Congress (ANC) to take action against ministers and other officials fingered in alleged corruption at troubled power utility Eskom.
In sensational allegations made during a television interview this week, former Eskom group chief executive Andre de Ruyter accused South African ministers and other senior government officials of involvement in criminal activities at the state-owned power utility.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) chief executive Wayne Duvenage said on Friday that President Cyril Ramaphosa should take the allegations seriously and ensure that the ANC, which was also fingered by de Ruyter, launches a probe into the allegations to clear the air.
“I certainly do not think that the ruling party is demonstrating that it is taking this matter seriously. What it needs to do is appoint a team of investigators to get to the bottom of Andre de Ruyter’s claims,” Duvenage said.
He expressed concern that instead of taking action to clear its name, there “is an attack on the individual.”
“That is the saddest situation we can find ourselves in as a country because it does indicate that they are not taking this matter seriously,” the OUTA official said.
He added: “We do not hear the ANC or the party president jumping to the issue, that we will get to the bottom of this, or that we will demonstrate to you meaningfully that we have investigated all these allegations and we are going to take action.”
In the TV interview, de Ruyter said a number of government leaders are allegedly siphoning funds from Eskom, likening the utility to “a feeding trough” for the ANC.
This angered ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula who vowed to drag de Ruyter to court to prove his allegations.
NM/jn/APA