- Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter will be invited to state his case to Parliament's finance watchdog.
- The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has agreed to invite De Ruyter to explain allegations of corruption.
- ANC MP Bheki Hadebe, also a member of Scopa, tabled a motion to invite De Ruyter.
Following his explosive allegations about corruption at Eskom, the power utility's former CEO, André de Ruyter, will be invited to state his case to Parliament's finance watchdog.
On Wednesday, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) met to deliberate on a proposal by ANC MP Bheki Hadebe, also a member of Scopa, to invite De Ruyter to explain the corruption at Eskom.
The committee acceded to Hadebe's request, and it was agreed that the committee would look at establishing an inquiry to thoroughly investigate the extent of corruption and mismanagement.
Hadebe argued that the rampant corruption at Eskom was far too severe for the committee to ignore.
It is still unclear if De Ruyter will be part of the inquiry or whether he will appear before the committee prior to the establishment of the inquiry.
By next week, MPs will have to develop draft terms of reference for the inquiry into Eskom and, from there, pave a way forward.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the committee was convinced that there was complete rot at Eskom.
He said:
During an explosive interview with eNCA journalist Annika Larsen last month, De Ruyter disclosed that he had told a Cabinet member about high-end politicians and sabotage at Eskom, led by four crime cartels.
Parliament's legal advisor Fatima Ebrahim told the committee that there were parallel processes on the go.
"If Scopa is going to spearhead this, the committee can appoint an evidence leader to pull everything together. These are allegations that span over a number of years, and it is complex allegations, and the amounts that are being spoken of are huge," she said.
"Scopa must bear in mind what the end goal is, which is not simply to conduct oversight, but its to ensure that these sort of matters are prevented in future."
At one point, there was a heated exchange between EFF MP Nazier Paulsen and the ANC's Sakhumzi Somyo over allegations that ministers had been involved in corruption at Eskom.