Power, patronage, and the price of reform: Inside South Africa’s energy struggle

RECENT investigative reporting by Pieter-Louis Myburgh in the Daily Maverick into alleged bribery involving the suspended CEO of the Independent Development Trust and her spokesperson underscores how deeply embedded corruption has become in South Africa.

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Such incidents occur with alarming frequency, and rarely with consequence.

For ordinary South Africans, the constant stream of revelations about bribery, fraud, and political patronage has produced a sense of fatigue. The scale and normalisation of such conduct should no longer surprise us.

During his tenure as CEO of Eskom, André de Ruyter, exposed organised criminal networks operating inside the utility. In his book Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, he described syndicates that extended into the highest political circles.

These included the so-called “coal mafia” that supplied substandard material while diverting coal to other markets, criminal operations stealing and reselling Eskom’s own spare parts, and procurement rackets involving basic consumables such as gloves, brooms, and safety gear sold back to the company at heavily inflated prices.

When De Ruyter raised these issues with a cabinet member, the response was: “the cadres should eat.”

While opinions differ on De Ruyter’s overall performance, his exposure of politically sponsored organised crime identified the underlying cause of Eskom’s instability. His efforts to curb corruption appear to have provoked sabotage within the generation fleet, contributing to the increase in load shedding during his tenure. He survived an alleged poisoning attempt, but many other whistle blowers have paid with their lives for confronting entrenched criminal interests.