DURBAN - Former acting interim treasurer of Eskom Mandla Maleka tore into the entity’s current executives accusing chief executive Andre De Ruyter of purging black professionals and wrongdoings at the struggling entity.
Maleka was speaking on Thursday during the Solly Tshitangano Open line interview on Radio 702’s Clement Manyathela Show.
Maleka, who resigned in February last year nine months into his job as acting treasurer at Eskom, threw his weight behind Tshitangano, and revealed that De Ruyter who is entrusted with the responsibility to fix the entity is involved in improper conduct in which he irregularly appointed individuals close to him.
“Solly is trying to advanced a painful point that some individuals were irregularly appointed at Eskom by De Ruyter who sat in the interview of his friend whom he previously worked with,” Maleka explained.
He argued that there was a lot of improprieties the so-called saviours (De Ruyter) of Eskom were involved in. He added that board chairperson Professor Malegapuru Makgoba had ignored his outcry.
Maleka said he had to take early retirement because he could not stand the treatment he was subjected to.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha dismissed Maleka’s allegations, stating it was not the first time Maleka had made them.
“He took Eskom to CCMA when he didn’t get the job he had applied for. His complaints were dismissed by the CCMA,” said Mantshantsha.
Speaking on the report and findings by advocate Ishmael Semenya who conducted an inquiry into allegations of racism against De Ruyter, Makgoba said that the board was satisfied with the findings which cleared the chief executive.
Tshitangano on the show dismissed the Semenya Report as a “whitewash” stating that the scope of the inquiry removed critical terms of reference which should have been the area of focus because his complaint was not based on the racism allegations but the misconduct and mistreatment of black suppliers to Eskom by De Ruyter.
Former Eskom executive and energy expert Ted Blom questioned the independence of Semenya’s reports saying it would be interesting to know how many times the same advocate had been used by the entity. “Eskom board has redefined the meaning of the word ‘independent’.”
Numsa said the exoneration of De Ruyter was an Eskom whitewash as initially predicted by the union. “We do not accept the validity of the report. This Eskom board is determined to hang on to this less than mediocre CEO who has dismally failed. If he was black he would have been fired but he is protected because he is white,” said Numsa spokesperson Phakami Hlubi Majola.
Daily News