De Ruyter to appear virtually before Scopa next Wednesday

Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter will appear virtually before parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) next Wednesday.

Committee chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said De Ruyter declined the committee's request to appear in person in parliament and requested a virtual appearance.

“The committee is scheduled to meet on April 26 for an engagement with the former CEO of Eskom,” Hlengwa told committee members on Tuesday.

“He was requested to be physically in Cape Town but I received a request from De Ruyter through his legal representatives to appear virtually, I have acceded to that request.”

Hlengwa did not indicate whether De Ruyter had given reasons for his request.

Committee members will be required to attend in person due to load-shedding and possible connectivity issues. The meeting is scheduled from 9am to 4pm.

Last month, De Ruyter agreed to appear before Scopa to elaborate on allegations of criminal conduct and corruption at Eskom.

In agreeing to appear before the committee, De Ruyter also indicated he would present a written submission on the issues he raised during an interview with eNCA’s Annika Larsen aired in February.

At the time, Hlengwa said the committee believed it was important to engage De Ruyter on the issues he spoke about in line with its constitutional mandate of holding Eskom accountable regarding financial administration, including procurement of goods and services.

ANC MP Bheki Hadebe requested the committee to urgently invite De Ruyter to provide more information.

After tabling Hadebe’s letter, Scopa resolved to invite De Ruyter to engage with it on the allegations regarding corruption, theft, maladministration, sabotage, lack of consequence management, cartels and other financial irregularities at Eskom. 

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