DA gives Ramaphosa until Friday midday to release Eskom SIU report
1 April 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to President Cyril Ramaphosa to demand that he release the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report, which found that South Africa forked out R14.5 billion for Eskom’s ‘self-created emergency coal’ during the first round of rolling blackouts in 2008.
The SIU report also reportedly found that South Africa’s first rolling blackout episode back in 2008 may have been carefully orchestrated by a cohort of employees at Eskom so that they could sign emergency contracts that will benefit pop-up coal suppliers. Reports say that the findings of the four year SIU investigation were handed to the Presidency in July 2017 but have not yet been released.
The DA therefore demands that President Ramaphosa make the the SIU report public by no later than 12:00 midday on Friday, 5 April 2019. If President Ramaphosa fails to accede to our request we will submit an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
The country has a right to know the full details of the SIU report - it is in the best interests of all South Africans for the findings of this report to be released urgently so that we can examine the extent of the rot at Eskom, and hold those implicated to account.
This SIU report no doubt details what we have known for a long time, that the energy crisis that threatens the well-being of our economy happened due to the looting and corruption of the people’s money by the failing ANC and their dodgy associates. The ANC government puts its insatiable greed ahead of the needs of the people they are meant to serve.
The DA has also been informed that the Presidency has instructed Eskom to keep the lights on by all means necessary. As we speak Eskom is burning diesel in large quantities just to keep the lights on until the elections.
Ramaphosa is essentially throwing the public’s money at the Eskom electricity crisis, which his party created, in order to ensure he and the ANC remain in power.
The truth is that when Eskom was being looted, then Deputy President Ramaphosa kept quiet and did nothing to intervene because he did not want to harm his presidential ambitions.
We demand that the SIU report be released immediately so that the people of South Africa can see that indeed we no longer have a government but an organisation of criminals and crooks who have taken the power away from the people.
Only the DA can bring change that will save the South African economy. The ANC has collapsed everything it has laid its hands on, many of its leaders have been caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar, yet not even one of the ANC leaders has been arrested.
The DA is committed to building One South Africa for All. Where all South Africans have access a stable energy grid. A vote for the DA on 8 May is indeed a vote for clean government that will take criminals to prison not parliament.
Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Team One SA Spokesperson on State Capture, 1 April 2019
