Zuko Komisa

Andre De Ruyter may face legal action over “unauthorized” Eskom probe.
Advocate Lekgoa Mothibi, head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that Eskom did not “authorize” the intelligence report into former CEO André de Ruyter’s malfeasance.
Point of View with Phemelo Motene spoke to legal expert, Mpumelelo Zikalala who gave an analysis following the SIU’s presentation in Parliament.
Listen to the full conversation here:
Zikalala explained why private funding to do an “unauthorized” investigation may have been an incorrect step taken by De Ruyter.
He also broke down the laws which prohibit the withholding of information related to corruption.
“When you are employed as the CEO of Eskom, your allegiance should be towards Eskom, and secondly, there is legislation that is applicable to you, you have to make sure that if there’s any procurement that needs to take place it has to happen within the bounds of what Eskom is allowed to do.” said Zikalala,
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Legal action against De Ruyter not ruled out
During the Scopa meeting on Tuesday, Mothibi stated that legal action against De Ruyter in connection with the Eskom investigation could not be ruled out.
“The former CEO did not have authority to investigate the affairs of Eskom and it does appear that he had a distrust of law enforcement agencies. As the CEO, it was incumbent on him to raise the distrust appropriately… but he commissioned a parallel investigation,”
“Consideration should be given to holding the former CEO to account… It becomes a legal question as he is no longer employed by Eskom, and in this regard, we will consider the options that are available, together with the board, and advise accordingly.” SIU head Lekgoa Mothibi told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday.
De Ruyter left Eskom in February and is currently working as a fellow at Yale University in the US.
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