Eskom: 34 High Risk Profiles Revealed in Lifestyle Audit, “Shape Up or Ship Out” Says SCOPA

• Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, presented the findings of the power utility's lifestyle audit in Parliament
• The Standing Committee on Public Accounts, SCOPA, is in disbelief over the R37.2 billion sum which Eskom cannot account for
• SCOPA gave Eskom's management an ultimatum, saying that they need to urgently fix their issues or risk being removed

CAPE TOWN - A lifestyle audit of power utility Eskom was recently conducted and it revealed that there are 34 high-risk cases. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that these cases have been forwarded to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

SCOPA, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, serves as a watchdog for Parliament. In response to De Ruyter, SCOPA said that they fail to understand why Eskom cannot explain their failure to adhere to budgets and why they have expenditure they cannot account for.

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State Capture alive and well at Eskom according to CEO De Ruyter

According to IOL, De Ruyter reported that 11 of the high-risk cases were sent to Eskom's disciplinary committee for further action. The investigation also caused seven Eskom employees to resign, which has raised suspicions.

SCOPA's view of the lifestyle audit

When Eskom presented the findings of its lifestyle audit to SCOPA in Parliament yesterday (23 November), they declared that their irregular expenditure amounts to over R37.2 billion. This figure, along with Eskom's inability to account for it, shocked SCOPA.

Calib Cassim, Eskom's CFO, said that the irregular expenditure is due to a host of factors, including overlooked offences and historical expenditure, Times Live reports. Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the SCOPA chairperson, replied that Eskom is on thin ice as the committee is fed up with the power utility's issues.

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“Our message to you, Eskom [officials], is simple, shape up or ship out. We are going to nudge you and we are going to be persistent until the right things are done. I am saying, you can rest assured of our persistent presence until things are done,” said Hlengwa.

Reactions to Eskom's report-back

@DesJone76855192 believes:

"I think a good push is better than a nudge!"

@1KarlMarxis said:

"Fire the whole board."

@Bongani20994708 asked:

"Is it still state capture's problem that they can't keep records?"

@0200906n shared:

"Come on Eskom, turn this ship around already."

State capture alive and well at Eskom, according to CEO De Ruyter

Previously Briefly News reported that Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said that state capture did not end when the notorious Gupta family fled South Africa.

He said that the networks that had been established earlier are still running and corruption has become part of the fabric of Eskom.

De Ruyter said that he was surprised to learn that how things were presented as normal in board room documents when he first took over.

Source: Briefly News