3 years ago
4
ARTICLE AD BOX
Mpho Makwana, chairperson of Eskom.
- Eskom chair Mpho Makwana says the board is looking at "transgressions" in the public statements by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter.
- De Ruyter gave a television interview highly critical of Eskom while still CEO.
- He later released a tell-all book which Makwana said contravened his employment contract.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana is preparing to throw the book at former CEO André de Ruyter for various offences he might have committed arising from his public statements.
De Ruyter left Eskom in February, a month earlier than scheduled, after a bombshell television interview on eNCA, in which he made accusations of political involvement and endemic corruption at Eskom.
He also published a tell-all book on his time at Eskom.
Makwana, who was speaking at a briefing by Eskom on the outlook for the power system, said:
It must be noted and placed on record that trust was broken by his public statements and by publishing the book, which was broken in the most repulsive manner possible. In the course of publishing this book, transgressions were carried out by an executive who was in a fiduciary position, who was in possession of proprietary information of a national key point who himself evaded being vetted by processes that involved the State Security Agency (SSA) and most importantly breaches occurred in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia), various aspects of a director's duties as outlined in the Companies Act and his own contract of employment clauses on confidentiality.
Makwana said that the board's governance teams were reviewing all the evidence and would ensure that the board "takes all necessary action".
The board's audit and risk committee would also embark on an independent investigation to get to the bottom of the veracity of the allegations De Ruyter had made. It would also intensify internal controls to prevent corruption and unethical behaviour.
In his book Truth to Power, De Ruyter explains that the SSA first approached him for vetting after he had been in the job for two years. He told the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, that he would not hand over his personal financial information to the SSA as he did not trust them.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's national security advisor Sydney Mufamadi will appear before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) next week, where he will be questioned about De Ruyter's security clearance.
While new entrants into strategic positions in the public service should be vetted before they are appointed, this seldom happens. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told Scopa on Wednesday that there was "a long queue" for the vetting of officials by the SSA, which is why vetting was often done retrospectively.
Gordhan also said he would encourage the board to take action against De Ruyter's violation of the confidentiality clause in his employment contract.
English (US)