Andre de Ruyter targeted in Germany

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has granted the ANC the right to serve former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter with court papers in Germany, where he is believed to be staying.

De Ruyter left South Africa earlier this year following an interview with eNCA wherein he made serious allegations against ANC politicians and top government officials.

The former Eskom CEO said ANC and government officials were deeply involved in corrupt activities at Eskom. However, he did not specify the officials’ names.

In the interview, De Ruyter said the power utility is a feeding trough for the ANC and that the party is stuck in outdated communist ideologies.

He also claimed that there is knowledge and support for corruption at the highest levels of the ruling party and the government.

He added that the ANC only wants what will win them the next election, not what will keep the country going for the next two decades.

Following this interview, De Ruyter left the country due to fears for his safety.

Since he’s left South Africa, more information about his allegations has come to light, including the existence of a secret intelligence dossier.

This dossier resulted from a private investigation into corruption at Eskom that was commissioned by De Ruyter and informed the allegations he made on eNCA.

The dossier implicated two top ministers in the ANC in Eskom corruption, though the media did not reveal their names at the time.

However, News24, in collaboration with journalist Jacques Pauw, reported last week that this dossier was dubious and lacked sound evidence for its claims and allegations.

Since he’s left South Africa, De Ruyter has largely been silent, bar his appearance last week before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

Scopa invited De Ruyter to brief the committee following the allegations he made in the eNCA interview.

In his interview with and written submission to Scopa, De Ruyter refused to name the ANC and government officials he accused of corruption. He cited safety concerns and fear of legal action as reasons for his silence.

Despite De Ruyter’s refusal to name names, his fear of legal action has now come true, as the ANC wants the court to declare De Ruyter’s statement to eNCA defamatory and order him to retract.

The ruling party, therefore, sought an “edictal citation” from the court, which would grant it permission to serve court papers in a foreign country. 

The court has approved the ANC’s application, and the papers will be served by an official authorised under German law. 

The ANC’s application should not come as a surprise, as the party has publicly stated its intentions to sue De Ruyter. 

Following the eNCA interview, the ruling party said it would file criminal charges against De Ruyter if he fails to report his corruption allegations to law enforcement agencies in seven days.

The ANC claimed De Ruyter’s position as head of Eskom, by law, required him to report corruption.

The ANC is now pursuing a defamation case against De Ruyter for his allegations.

According to De Ruyter’s Scopa submission, he has reported some of his allegations. 

• He met with senior police officials and the State Security Agency at the end of last year to ask for assistance in investigating corruption at Eskom.
• He said he reported “the matter” to the then Interim Chair of Eskom, Prof Malegapuru Makgoba.
• He informed the new board of Eskom of the intelligence operation.
• He shared “high-level concerns about corruption and theft in Eskom” with the National Police Commissioner and his staff and offered to make the intelligence available to designated individuals.
• He reported the main findings of the dossier to Minister Pravin Gordhan and the National Security Adviser, Dr Sydney Mufamadi.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has also previously said it has served court papers on De Ruyter regarding his allegations against the ANC.

“We think that there is something illegal committed by De Ruyter. The ANC is a political party that has not instructed anyone to go to Eskom and mess things up,” Mbalula said.