MPs must do their duty and probe Eskom allegations

One can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu at the goings-on in parliament as the ANC tiptoes around the storm unleashed by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s claims of corruption at the utility and the involvement of senior party figures. We’ve seen this movie before. In March 2016 parliament’s neglect of its duty to exercise oversight over the executive was exposed by the Constitutional Court in the Nkandla scandal when ANC MPs closed ranks to protect former president Jacob Zuma. Despite the court’s admonishment and directive, parliament was again found to have ignored its oversight role in the state capture saga, a point hammered home by chief justice Raymond Zondo. In the new administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa the

ANC vowed to clean up its act and to start doing the job its MPs are paid to perform.

Notwithstanding some early signs that parliament and its committees were at last prepared to bare their teeth, it seems old habits die hard.

MPs voted down an opposition proposal to set up a committee to investigate the Phala Phala scandal and to what extent Ramaphosa broke any law in the handling of US dollars stolen from his game farm.

This week, when MPs vote on whether to set up an ad hoc committee to probe De Ruyter’s claims, it seems likely the ANC will reject such a step. Instead, parliament’s standing committee on public accounts will call on De Ruyter to elaborate on his claims.

But it is not just De Ruyter’s allegations of ANC politicians’ involvement in wrongdoing at Eskom that requires investigation. Parliament must also focus on the claim, made under parliamentary privilege, by DA leader John Steenhuisen of the complicity of former deputy president David Mabuza in corruption at Eskom, which he denies.

Because of the importance of Eskom to the nation and its economy, parliament is duty-bound to do everything to get to the bottom of all the allegations, so that the culprits engaged in treasonous activity at Eskom can be brought to book.