South Africa: Ex-CEO won't name politicians in utility probe
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00:00 He has responded to former Eskom CEO's allegations of corruption, accusing him of appointing
00:07 an apartheid agent to spread malicious and sensational claims about the former deputy
00:12 president and the minister of mineral resources.
00:16 Eskom responded by saying Andrei Derator's claims are already being investigated by law
00:21 enforcement.
00:23 This follows Derator's appearance before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
00:28 He testified before the committee on Wednesday.
00:32 The committee has now asked the Minister of Public Enterprises, the President's Security
00:37 Advisor and Eskom's board to answer its further questions next week.
00:42 In February, Derator said he had discussed crime and corruption at South Africa's state
00:46 power supply with a minister in the cabinet.
00:49 He specifically mentioned the high-level involvement of a senior politician.
00:53 But that minister allegedly told him to look the other way.
00:57 Now Derator still insists corruption is partially to blame for South Africa's power crisis.
01:02 And his revelations during a TV interview shocked the nation.
01:06 South Africans want to know who these people are who are looting Eskom and allowing it
01:10 to happen.
01:11 Derator had said before that there are several criminal cartels operating within Eskom, led
01:16 by the before-mentioned senior politician.
01:20 But on Wednesday, he refused to identify the mystery politician.
01:24 The members of the presidential cartel had a fairly lively presence on social media.
01:32 They made a number of statements saying things like, "Thanks to coal, we can shower in champagne,"
01:38 and so forth.
01:41 And these individuals, it appears, acted with a fair amount of impunity when it came to
01:51 publicising their activities and what they were up to.
01:58 Derator said his reluctance to name names is based on a fear for his life and to allow
02:03 investigations to continue.
02:05 After he resigned in December 2022, cyanide was found in his coffee at Eskom's offices.
02:12 In his testimony, Derator mentioned a tender awarded to an ANC-linked partnership between
02:17 Hitachi and Chancellor House.
02:20 In 2015, Hitachi was internationally charged for improper payments to the ANC in connection
02:26 with contracts to build two multi-billion dollar power plants.