Explosive allegations about Eskom and President Cyril Ramaphosa

Former Eskom chairman, Professor William Makgoba, shared explosive allegations about political interference during former Minister Pravin Gordhan’s tenure.

These allegations included that some individuals enjoyed protection due to their proximity to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Makgoba is a leading scientist and academic who joined the Eskom Board as a non-executive director in 2018.

In January 2020, he was appointed as Eskom’s interim chairman. He was also the deputy chair of the National Planning Commission.

Makgoba stepped down as Eskom’s interim chairman on 30 September 2022 and was replaced by Mpho Makwana as chairperson.

He chaired Eskom during former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s tenure, which was marred by allegations of political interference and corruption.

When De Ruyter exposed this malfeasance in his book, Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, he spoke highly of Makgoba.

De Ruyter said Makgoba was a diligent and dedicated chairman who was supportive when dealing with internal friction.

Makgoba has now shared details of some of the more controversial issues he had to deal with as Eskom chair.

In an interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on SMWX, he described the late former Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, as an intrusive micromanager who bypassed official channels.

“Pravin was a meddlesome minister. He interfered a lot. Sometimes he would visit Eskom but not see me. His cronies or spies would tell him what’s going on,” he said.

He shared a case where Gordhan called him while he was on holiday, saying he should return to South Africa to fix a problem.

“I received a call informing me that there was a power outage in Soweto, close to where the President’s sister lives,” he said.

“Because there was no electricity there, I was told I needed to return and personally ensure that power was restored to that specific area.”

He said that political meddling was at an all-time high under Gordhan and was being directed straight from the minister’s office.

Explosive allegations about political interference at Eskom

Makgoba shared a story about the late Sifiso Dabengwa, an engineer and former MTN CEO who served as a non-executive director on the Eskom board.

“He had a major fallout with former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and accused him of wrongdoing,” he said.

“To resolve this, we had to appoint an independent commission, chaired by Wim Trengove, to investigate the dispute between the two.”

There was a standoff. Dabengwa’s faction wanted De Ruyter fired, while De Ruyter said that unless Dabengwa was let go, he would resign.

“This wasn’t something that could be resolved through mediation, even though the President often prefers to just bring people together to talk things out.”

“Ultimately, the Trengove report was finalised, and its findings were clear: Sifiso Dabengwa had to leave the institution.”

Makgoba received a call from a senior government official, who told him that Dabengwa was President Cyril Ramaphosa’s funder and could not be fired.

“I said that this was not how governance operates. You asked us to establish an independent inquiry, and the findings are clear. He has to go,” he said.

When Dabengwa resigned from the Eskom board, he sent his letter directly to Minister Pravin Gordhan, bypassing Makgoba, who was the chairman.

In another incident, a chief procurement officer at Eskom was set to be charged after a disciplinary process.

At this point, Gordhan contacted Makgoba and reminded him that the officer was Venda, which is the same ethnicity as Ramaphosa.

“Remember that this man is Venda. He comes from the same area the President comes from,” the Minister told Makgoba.

“I was being told that I had to be careful and that we shouldn’t dismiss him even if he was found guilty.”

Makgoba refused the interference. “I said that it was not how governance works. Ultimately, he was dismissed,” he said.

“These are the kinds of situations that made you feel as though you were expected to protect people who had done things they knew were wrong.”

He said that those in power wanted them to use power in a way that was legally, morally, and ethically unjustifiable just to shield certain individuals.