News24.com | EXCLUSIVE | De Ruyter briefed brigadier, commissioner and president's advisor on Eskom corruption

• Cyril Ramaphosa, his Cabinet, and the ANC have all called for André de Ruyter to report knowledge of criminal activities involving senior government officials to the police.
• The calls ignore the fact not only has De Ruyter already reported the matter to the most senior police official in the country, but an investigation is also already under way.
• News24 can confirm a senior police official is looking into the evidence that led De Ruyter to say he believed a senior government official was involved in corruption at Eskom - evidence that has already led to arrests. 

Former Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter personally briefed the highest-ranking police official in the country – national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola – on allegations of corruption at Eskom around syndicates operating in Mpumalanga and the alleged involvement of two senior ANC government officials. 

News24 has established Masemola acted on the information and tasked a senior police official, with decades of investigative experience, whose name is known to News24, to investigate the matters raised by De Ruyter. 

News24 also understands the briefing included information around four syndicates operating in Mpumalanga, where most of Eskom's coal-fired power stations are located.

The information stemmed from a privately funded investigation by a forensic firm as well as other details of alleged corruption De Ruyter became aware of through the course of his duties at Eskom. The name of the firm is known to News24. 

News24 has, since October 2022, undertaken work to independently verify the intelligence collected by the firm.

On 5 July 2022, De Ruyter briefed Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and President Cyril Ramaphosa's national security advisor, Sydney Mufamadi, in the presence of one of Gordhan's advisors at Megawatt Park, Eskom's head office, and communications seen by News24 confirm the names of the two senior ANC government officials were shared with Mufamadi.

How safe is your neighbourhood? Find out by using News24's CrimeCheck

The meeting was held in the office of Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, then the board chairperson. He was, however, not present.

A second briefing on 10 July 2022 was attended by Mufamadi and Gordhan, and the names of the two senior officials allegedly linked to the cartels in Mpumalanga were shared again.  

Despite this, Mufamadi denied he was told the names.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Mufamadi confirmed being briefed by De Ruyter and the head of the investigation firm on two occasions but said "he was never briefed on any individuals or given names of people who were or are being investigated".

Magwenya also said Ramaphosa "is not aware … of names of individuals alleged to be involved in corruption at Eskom".

"No one has ever given the president any name of either a politician or syndicate leader that's involved at Eskom."

He added the head of the private firm wished for greater cooperation with the police, and Mufamadi facilitated this, which led to De Ruyter briefing Masemola.

News24 attempted to contact Mufamadi directly, with no response to calls. Questions for his attention were then directed to the Presidency.

De Ruyter also made a presentation before the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints), in which he set out information not only from the private investigation, but also from Eskom internal probes - without naming senior government officials, his information may be linked to the Mpumalanga syndicates. 

De Ruyter, who declined to comment when approached by News24 this week, also briefed Makgoba - seemingly fulfilling his fiduciary and legal duty to report probable criminal activity with a value of more than R100 000 as required by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (Precca). 

READ | De Ruyter warned Western Cape's Winde to be independent of Eskom soon, 'there's big trouble ahead'

Section 34 of Precca places a legal obligation to report acts of corruption by "any person who holds a position of authority" who knows, or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that any other person has committed acts of corruption, fraud, theft, extortion, forgery, or uttering involving an amount of R100 000 or more.

The act itself is silent on who this should be reported to, and the channels that have to be followed, but the SAPS Amendment Act of 2012 makes it clear it should be a designated police official within the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI). 

Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed, through his spokesperson, while he was not "aware of titles, names or faces of those being investigated", he "is aware there is an investigation in that environment" in response to a question about whether he was aware of a police investigation into allegations that could link to senior ANC officials and members of Cabinet. 

Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said in response to questions sent to Masemola to confirm his knowledge of the allegations around the four syndicates and the high-ranking government officials, that "due to the sensitivity of the investigations, the SAPS is not at liberty to give further detail or comment on this matter in the public domain".

Mathe said a priority committee had been established by Natjoints to address and investigate incidents and crimes relating to power cuts at Eskom. This was in addition to investigations by the DPCI of corruption cases that had so far resulted in 31 arrests linked to 53 cases."

About 39 other cases are also being investigated by a task team established by the national commissioner … the team has so far arrested 86 people, while 30 cases have successfully been placed on the court roll."

The police brigadier involved in investigating the allegations also declined to comment, referring queries to Masemola's office. 

Gordhan confirmed in a television interview this week De Ruyter had briefed him.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Gordhan said: "Yes, he [De Ruyter] made allusions about certain individuals, but it was precisely that, allusions. And, as far as the law is concerned, or my understanding of the law is concerned, I can't just arbitrarily point to someone and say that person is involved … either being corrupt or involved in corruption."

News24 has had access to several reports produced by the private investigators since mid-2022.

The investigations are based on information gathered using traditional human intelligence techniques as well as open-source tools, with the assistance of a large network of informants within and outside Eskom. 

The investigations have been ongoing for more than a year and have resulted in at least 280 reports being drafted in addition to monthly reports giving high level overviews and detailed breakdowns of the reports filed during the preceding month - detailing instances of sabotage, corruption, and updates on the activities of the criminal syndicates. 

ALSO READ | Cabinet reshuffle, electricity minister will be announced 'in the coming days' - Paul Mashatile

A strong focus was placed on Tutuka power station – the worst performing station in Eskom's fleet – where instances of corruption and thuggery are so rampant the power station manager wears a bulletproof vest to work and is accompanied by armed guards 24 hours a day. 

News24 has also had access to the investigators' big picture analysis of the networks, including how Cabinet-level ANC officials fit into the architecture of the syndicates.

Our reporters have, however, not been able to corroborate or confirm the investigators' claims about four cartels and the politicians' involvement as yet. 

An uproar ensued last week after De Ruyter, in an interview with e.tv's Annika Larsen, revealed he had seen evidence that led him to believe Eskom had become a feeding trough for the ANC. 

De Ruyter told Larsen:

His comments resulted in immediate condemnation from senior ANC officials in government, including Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, who called De Ruyter "right wing" and he left the power utility immediately following a meeting by the board.

Despite only referring to one individual without naming them, De Ruyter's comments have been widely extended (most notably by the ANC itself) to include two individuals. It suggests the ANC and senior government officials were aware of the detailed information shared with Mufamadi, Gordhan, Masemola and the State Security Agency (SSA) privately by De Ruyter. 

Ramaphosa called this week for De Ruyter to report the matter to the police - which De Ruyter had already done in 2022 - and was supported by his Cabinet for calling for the matter to be reported. 

READ | 100 years of Eskom: From Van der Bijl to 'power company of the year' to SA's biggest risk

The ANC threatened to lay charges against De Ruyter if he failed to report the matter to police within seven days - ignoring the fact he had already confirmed to Larsen in the interview he had briefed high level police officials and the SSA.

Magwenya, would not confirm or deny Ramaphosa was briefed by Mufamadi or Masemola - who are both aware of the identities of the two senior government officials who are alleged to be involved - he did deny the president was given any names.

He added as a result of the collaboration between the private firm and law enforcement agencies several arrests had been executed and the collaboration continued - making it unclear why the president and the ANC have called on De Ruyter to report information that is already under investigation by a "multidisciplinary task team that has been deployed at Eskom" that is "working closely with Eskom's private security team in cracking down on criminality taking place at the power utility". 

"The president knows and has spoken about corruption at Eskom. However, we will not be drawn into discussing specific claims that must be referred to law enforcement," Magwenya said, despite News24 pointing out Ramaphosa had already commented on specific investigations by calling on De Ruyter to report the matter to the police, and Ramaphosa reasonably ought to have been aware of the allegations against two senior government officials. 

The president remained confident law enforcement "had the capacity to get to the bottom of all these matters", Magwenya said, while also denying Ramaphosa had been dishonest.