Eskom procurement chief also on the spot
• Action may be recommended by Semenya if company was misled
Eskom’s chief procurement officer, Solly Tshitangano, who has accused CEO André de Ruyter of racism, could be in the firing line himself should the probe that he has called for find that his claims have no substance.
Eskom’s chief procurement officer, Solly Tshitangano, who has accused CEO André de Ruyter of racism, could be in the firing line himself should the probe that he has called for find that his claims have no substance.
The Eskom board of directors has appointed advocate Ishmael Semenya to inquire into a complaint made by Tshitangano against De Ruyter in which he is accused of having made five racially motivated appointments and for favouring white suppliers over black ones. However, Semenya has been asked not only to determine De Ruyter’s guilt or innocence but recommend any action that needs to be taken against “any specific individuals” in connection with the matters probed.
Should the claims be debunked by De Ruyter — he has replied to all Tshitangano’s allegations in a detailed affidavit — Semenya may consider whether Tshitangano has intentionally misled Eskom.
Tshitangano, who has been suspended, is facing a disciplinary inquiry into his alleged nonperformance, which the Eskom board has insisted must go ahead next week. He is a well-known career civil servant with a good reputation.
There has been tension between De Ruyter and Tshitangano since De Ruyter took a special interest in procurement upon taking up his position more than a year ago. But their relationship deteriorated sharply when De Ruyter took steps to suspend him in February on the grounds of poor performance.
With his suspension imminent, Tshitangano wrote to the department of public enterprises’ director-general and parliament’s standing committee on public accounts. He asked for their intervention and included detailed allegations of wrongdoing by De Ruyter.
He did not act on advice from board chair Malegapuru Makgoba to make use of Eskom’s grievance procedure.
The board, which was reluctant to initiate an inquiry in the first place but came under political pressure to do so after parliament tried to initiate its own inquiry, has said that the inquiry is confined to matters included in Tshitangano’s complaint as this is the only one that has been formally put to the board.
At a board meeting last week, Eskom CFO Calib Cassim questioned why three other appointments to MD positions had not been included in the ambit of the inquiry. While the board had initially agreed to include the names, it later reconsidered after receiving legal advice that this would alter the nature of the inquiry from one based on Tshitangano’s complaint to a wider one initiated by the board.
While the board is anxious not to be seen as “sweeping anything under the carpet”, it is at pains to insist it has no complaint against De Ruyter. Makgoba did, however, request complete information on the three appointments from the human resources department. The explanation, which has been provided to the Sunday Times and Business Day, as well as to Eskom board members, is likely to put the matter to rest within the board as those close to the process said they saw no need for further engagement.
Of the three MD appointments, one involved shifting an employee from the sustainability division into De Ruyter’s office to manage the just energy transition; the second involved a person hired on a short-term contract; and the third was a promotion in the audit and forensic department. None of the positions were advertised — which had caused gossip within Eskom — but all were in line with the company’s human resources policies, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.
Makgoba is preparing his own affidavit for Semenya and has declined to comment in public before that.
NONE OF THE POSITIONS WERE ADVERTISED BUT ALL WERE IN LINE WITH THE COMPANY’S HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES