The DA wants an urgent ad hoc parliamentary committee to be established and to investigate the alleged corruption by ANC members and Cabinet ministers at Eskom.
The leader of the official opposition party John Steenhuisen said he has written to the National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula requesting that parliament take the lead and institute a thorough inquiry into the full extent of the alleged ANC’s criminal capture at the ailing parastatal.
Steenhuisen believes that an ad hoc committee will have the power to subpoena any individual it deems necessary to come before it for questioning.
This follows allegations by former Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter in a TV interview that the cash-scraped entity is fraught with political interference and corruption, wherein he also said the ruling party is using the power utility as a “feeding trough” and that at least R1 billion is stolen from the state-owned entity monthly.
Steenhuisen said the allegations made by De Ruyter suggest that the ANC is systematically sabotaging the country’s electricity system to further its own corrupt aims.
He said if the allegations are true, that would be treason on the part of the governing party and the question of whether to establish the ad hoc committee would be debated and voted on in the plenary meeting planned for 16 March.
Both Mmusi Maimane’s Bosa and the ANC have called on De Ruyter to name and shame those responsible for looting at Eskom.
Maimane laid a criminal complaint against the alleged looting while the ruling party issued a statement on Sunday challenging the former CEO to back his claims by laying criminal charges within the next seven days against those he believes to be behaving unlawfully. The party has threatened to file charges against him if he doesn’t act in seven days.