Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has said the alleged poisoning incident “will be thoroughly investigated” and anyone responsible will be charged. Gordhan said an intense battle was taking place “between those who want South Africa to thrive and those who want to corruptly enrich themselves”.
Andre de Ruyter resigned on December 14 after failing to solve the crisis in Eskom that has led to record power cuts in the country.
After taking office in January 2020, de Ruyter led a company-wide clampdown on corruption and organised criminal behaviour, including sabotage of infrastructure, within Eskom.
“Eskom cannot comment further on the poisoning incident involving the group chief executive, which occurred during December 2022, as the matter is subject to police investigation,” the utility’s head of security said in a statement.
Newsnote could not reach De Ruyter for comment.
The alleged cyanide poisoning was first reported by specialist energy publication EE Business Intelligence on Saturday.
Opposition party the Democratic Alliance on Sunday called for decisive action against criminal syndicates that it said were “hell-bent on cementing their stranglehold on Eskom that is destroying the economy”.
The South African police services did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Eskom’s board chairman Mpho Makwana was also unavailable.