South Africans went to bed in darkness last night. I was one of them.
Just before blowing my candle out, I received a message that the CEO of Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, had been effectively fired.
Boom, employment terminated with immediate effect - a few hours after he had exposed the depth of corruption at Eskom and implicating the involvement of senior ministers or is it simply only one specific senior minister… one with many portfolios under their thumb and at their disposal?
Not being a political appointment to Eskom – or as far as I am aware - de Ruyter is able to speak out about corruption at Eskom, and although he didn’t mention any names in his recent interview, surely, he would have informed his direct boss(es), Minister Mantashe and, of course, the bigger boss, Pravin Gordhan, of all the various levels of corruption at Eskom?
Why then would they be so outraged as to his exposure of such facts that are open secrets for most of us public?
I often write about the failure of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), especially since Gordhan took over. Eskom is but one of them. Transnet, the Post Office, Landbank, Denel. The list is long.
So, why, I ask yet again, is Gordhan still around?
President Ramaphosa should answer that before he reshuffles his Cabinet.
But the reality is that Ramaphosa has created and is dealing with a political nightmare since he took over.
Gordhan, for his part, has been quick to express his excitement over Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s announcement that the government will take over Eskom's debt. The proposed debt relief has very strict conditions for Eskom, including restricting the power utility from using proceeds from the sale of non-core assets for capital and operating needs, as BR recently reported.
I was dumbfounded, like much of the country, by Ramaphosa’s proposed 'strategy' to solve the energy crises at the State of the Nation Address: Appoint ANOTHER Minister in 'the office of the President'.
Hold on a moment, we are trying to cut costs here - and what on earth, I ask again, are the job description or KPIs of the minister of minerals, energy and SOEs? It was clear, though, that Mantashe was equally surprised by the announcement that he would now share his portfolio with yet another colleague.
Soon after, it was ‘clarified’ that the minister of energy in the President's office job is purely that of a 'project manager'. But is that not supposed to be the job of all ministers – to manage their portfolios, to ensure that everything runs smoothly and optimally? Otherwise, why are they there at all?
Is it possible that this appointing of ministers directly to his own office is because President Ramaphosa cannot trust his own Cabinet? Or is it a case of the president not taking corruption seriously - following the Phala Phala scandal, we would be forgiven for thinking so – and if so, why would the rest of his cabinet ministers then do so? Or, maybe he is more concerned about who will sponsor his campaigns in the future?
I urge the president to be very careful about who he appoints to his office and in his new Cabinet. Our very future and survival (and that of the gravy train that is now out of control) depends on it.
Either way, we may yet still uncover the truth. I received a disturbing message from a concerned citizen in Richards Bay this morning, who told me that he would forward me a list of ministers involved in companies (meaning they either own these companies or have shares in them) that transport coal to Richards Bay.
Maybe, this is also what de Ruyter was referring to?
I will make that list available as soon as we follow up and check the facts.
Adri Senekal de Wet is the executive editor of Business Report.
BUSINESS REPORT