Eskom corruption ringleaders still at large – Gordhan

The real ringleaders of the corruption that has ravaged Eskom are still at large, as law enforcement has failed to arrest them. 

This is feedback from Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, who recently appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) alongside Eskom management, including acting CEO Calib Cassim. 

Gordhan lamented the inability of law enforcement to bring corrupt Eskom employees to book, particularly the masterminds of the corruption at the utility. 

“Corruption is going to carry on unless law enforcement and the prosecuting authority put the real ringleaders behind bars,” Gordhan said. 

“Whether one likes it or not, there are not enough people in orange uniforms at this particular point in time.”

Gordhan said the key was to combat the culture of corruption within Eskom’s ecosystem, “It seems that greed is a powerful motive force in terms of undermining institutions such as Eskom.”

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has previously called on law enforcement to go beyond the ordinary criminals to the masterminds. 

“We are placing significant amounts of effort in ensuring that we protect these assets and defend the gains we have made,” Ramokgopa said. 

The National Electricity Crisis Committee (Necom) has set aside a group of intelligence and police experts to focus on workstream six of the EAP, focusing solely on crime, corruption, and safety at Eskom. 

This has resulted in over 1,300 cases of sabotage being reported and over 100 arrests being made. 

However, we need to “go beyond the ordinary men to the main orchestrators and the brains behind the efforts to undermine electricity supply,” Ramokgopa said. 

The destruction of infrastructure is not coincidental, but rather, it is orchestrated. Necom has identified several links between acts of sabotage on Eskom infrastructure and the destruction of rail infrastructure in the country. 

The minister said he “is more than confident that we will get to the bottom of this” because “if we do not solve this, all of our efforts will be undermined”.