Tebogo Msimanga |
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) says it has noted the decision taken by Parliaments Standing Committee on Public Accounts SCOPA to call off its investigation into allegations of impropriety and procurement irregularities by the Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter.
SCOPA had initially indicated that it would pursue an inquiry into allegations that were raised by the Eskom COO Solly Tshitangano. In his letter to SCOPA, Tshitangano alleged that De Ruyter undermined proper supply chain policies to make irregular appointments which he did not support as the Chief Procurement Officer.
SCOPA decided to suspend the investigation, because of the request made by the minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan. Pravin informed SCOPA that the Eskom board has instituted its own inquiry into the same allegations.
NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said the Union has no faith in the investigation which has been launched by the Eskom board into De Ruyter. “The timing is suspicious because it chose to ignore the allegations for 14 months, and only when SCOPA announced its intention to investigate the COO’s allegations, then suddenly the Eskom board decided to do the same.”
Jim added that NUMSA shares the view of the SCOPA chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa that the Eskom board “jumped the gun” and “we believe the goal was to undermine the process which SCOPA was initiating”.
Jim said De Ruyter has demonstrated a total inability to stabilize Eskom. “Under his watch, this country has experienced the worst blackouts in history – for the first time we reached stage 6 load-shedding.”
