An alleged attempt on Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s life in December shows the “intense battle taking place in SA”, said minister of public enterprises Pravin Gordhan.
This is a battle, he told Business Day, being fought between “those who want SA to work and thrive, and those who want to corruptly enrich themselves”.
News of the alleged attempt to murder De Ruyter by cyanide poisoning was first shared by energy expert and MD of EE Business Intelligence Chris Yelland on Twitter on Saturday.
Yelland later published an article on the EE Business Intelligence website saying the attempted murder took place on December 13, one day after De Ruyter submitted his resignation to Eskom chair Mpho Makwana. De Ruyter’s resignation was made public on December 14 and he reported the attempt on his life to the SA Police Service (SAPS) on January 5.
The alleged attempted murder took place at Eskom’s head office, Megawatt Park in Johannesburg, where De Ruyter drank a cup of coffee believed to have been laced with cyanide. He became ill, unable to walk, and collapsed after drinking the coffee and was then taken to a doctor, who diagnosed cyanide poisoning.
De Ruyter confirmed the events to Business Day. He said he reported the case to the SAPS in Hermanus in the Western Cape where he was on leave. The complaint has since been transferred to the Midrand Police Station.
“The opening of the case was delayed by a long wait for the results of the second test, which I assume was due to the festive season. After my doctor sent me the results and interpreted the results for me, I consulted with advisers as to my next steps,” De Ruyter said.
He told Business Day that he decided to open the case only when it became clear that news of the incident had leaked.
“I didn’t particularly want the sensation that has now resulted,” he said.
Gordhan said this attempt on De Ruyter’s life will be thoroughly investigated and those responsible have to be charged.
“I have discussed this serious matter with the minister of police. Our solidarity and thoughts are with De Ruyter and his family. Eskom will stay the course and do its best to provide an essential service to SA,” Gordhan said.
Karen Pillay, Eskom’s head of security, said the power utility cannot comment further on the incident because the matter is subject to police investigation.
De Ruyter, who will step down as CEO of Eskom at the end of March, said in December that he decided to resign because his position had become untenable.
In the days leading up to his resignation, mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe said that Eskom under De Ruyter’s watch was guilty of sabotage and of “agitating for the overthrow of the state” in allowing high levels of load-shedding.
De Ruyter and other high-profile executives at Eskom have previously spoken openly about threats made to their safety, necessitating an increase in the security details and precautions for executives, managers and in some instances their families.
In a previous interview with Business Day, De Ruyter said they believed there was a link between the increase in threats made against Eskom employees and the ramping up of efforts to expose and root out corruption, sabotage and theft.
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