Eskom’s chairman, Mteto Nyati, has recently poured cold water on the idea of an Eskom “mafia,” despite explosive allegations from former CEO André de Ruyter. De Ruyter claimed that during his tenure from 2020 to 2022, Eskom was losing a whopping R1 billion per month to corruption, which he described as a “conservative” estimate.
In a controversial interview, De Ruyter accused organised crime cartels – including the Presidential, MeshKings, Legendaries, and Chief cartels – of controlling key Eskom power stations, particularly in Mpumalanga. According to him, these mafias had a hit squad of 60–70 heavily armed operatives, contributing to the province’s “weekly assassinations.” Yikes.
However, Eskom’s current leadership, under Nyati, has found no evidence to back up the mafia claims. Instead, they’ve discovered corruption tied to external contractors, not the whole staff. Nyati is adamant that most Eskom employees are hardworking and honest, and the board is working overtime to tackle fraud using advanced tech and AI to track down culprits.
The investigation into De Ruyter’s allegations continues, but Eskom says that while they haven’t found any smoking guns just yet, they are taking action. In fact, Eskom’s 2023 results showed over 7,000 reports of corruption, and they’re digging into 380 ongoing cases. So, while it seems like the Eskom mafia might be more myth than reality, the war on corruption at Eskom is far from over. Stay tuned – this one’s a power struggle to watch!
(Note: All this info came courtesy of Daily Investor, with their blessing.)
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