Cape Town - In response to a court case by opposition parties ActionSA, UDM, and 17 others that seeks to declare the government’s response to load shedding unconstitutional and a breach of fundamental human rights, an answering affidavit by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter reinforces allegations the ANC played a massive role in the root causes for load shedding.
This is according to ActionSA, which said this affidavit proved, without any doubt, that the decisions of the ANC-led government from as far back as 1998, were directly to blame for the state of load shedding in South Africa.
In the 153-page affidavit, De Ruyter goes into detail about the load shedding crisis and Eskom’s plans to address it, the historical and immediate causes of load shedding in South Africa – which had complex causes dating back to at least 1998, and corruption at the power utility and its wide-ranging impacts.
The case, set to be heard on March 20 in the Gauteng High Court, also asks that certain sectors such as safety and healthcare be exempted from load shedding.
“The load shedding that South Africa is experiencing today has been at least 25 years in the making. Over this period, a confluence of factors – the bulk of which are entirely out of Eskom’s control – have inhibited Eskom’s ability to ensure adequate electricity supply. Many of these factors persist and continue to remain out of Eskom’s control, making the relief sought against Eskom all the more unrealistic,” De Ruyter said.
The affidavit states corruption has had a profound effect on Eskom, the cumulative financial impact on Eskom of State Capture and corruption more generally was difficult to quantify, but De Ruyter said it was likely to be significantly higher than the R14.7 billion of Eskom’s contracts which were calculated to have been afflicted by State Capture.
ActionSA head of strategic litigation Gillian Benson said: “De Ruyter’s affidavit reaffirms ActionSA’s belief that the ANC is a criminal syndicate that is directly responsible for the load shedding disaster.”
This came just a few days after the Eskom board announced De Ruyter’s immediate exit as CEO and the appointment of Eskom’s CFO Calib Cassiem as interim group CEO with immediate effect. Cassiem has more than 20 years of service at Eskom.
De Ruyter tendered his resignation in December last year after claiming he had been poisoned with cyanide. He was due to stay on as CEO until the end of March but left Eskom shortly after an explosive interview last week where he made a number of allegations - including that a minister and high-level politician were enabling corruption at the power utility.
Since this interview, a number of political parties have decided to take to the courts to reveal the identities of the individuals involved in De Ruyter’s allegations
On Tuesday, Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane will open a criminal case at Cape Town Central police station against well connected individuals who have looted billions of rand from Eskom over the past decade.
“We need to know the names of the ministers involved in criminality, we need to know what the president knew and what he did after being informed," Maimane said.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri yesterday warned that De Ruyter had a constitutional obligation to report any criminality to the police, with evidence of his allegations, to allow law enforcement agencies to investigate, and where appropriate, prosecute those who have a case to answer, including any ANC members or public representatives.
Bhengu-Motsiri said: “To date, the ANC is not aware of any action taken by De Ruyter in this respect. The ANC urges De Ruyter to fulfil his constitutional and legal obligations to officially report to the police any act of criminality and/or illegality he is aware of within the next seven days… Failure by Mr De Ruyter to bring such information forward and report it in line with his obligations will result in the ANC laying Section 34 charges against him.”
Section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act makes it illegal for any person in a position of authority not to report an act or information of corruption or criminality.