ARETA responds to the withdrawal of Godongwana’s illegal Eskom government notice and the lifting of the farcical State of National Disaster regarding electricity

6 April 2023

The African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance (ARETA) noted with annoyance and disgust the latest shenanigans of the failed Cyril Ramaphosa regime. The lasts two indicators that the Ramaphosa has totally lost it’s political and moral/ethical compass are:

The withdrawal of the entirely illegal notice that the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, published in the Government Gazette of the 31st of March 2023 exempting Eskom from disclosing its annual reports for three years. It was blatantly illegal to grant Eskom an exemption from the regulations of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) (as set out in Section 55 (2) (b) (i)), that require explicitly that state entities must provide their annual financial statements and annual reports of “any material losses through criminal conduct, and any irregular expenditure an fruitless and wasteful expenditure that occurred during the financial year”. Godongwana attempted to grant a blanket exemption to Eskom. This was purposely designed to prevent any further investigations and disclosure of gross illegality, corruption and looting that came to the fore in the serious allegations that the former Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, Mr. Andre de Ruyter made, as well as many other allegations from various credible sources. The fact that Minister Godongwana could not sustain his brazen attempt to cover up the corruption at Eskom, which apparently also involves ANC government Ministers, and other senior government officials, does not make the situation any better, and certainly does not exempt the Minister from blame and culpability. All the it actually means is that the Minister was so blatant in his attempt to execute a criminal cover up, that he was caught out, stood naked and exposed, and was left with no other option but to withdraw the illegal notice in the Government Gazette. There is certainly no virtue in illegal, criminal, incompetence, and if there was any semblance of accountability in the failed Cyril Ramaphosa regime, Godongwana would have immediately fallen on his own sword and resigned, and if he did not have the moral conscience to do so, Ramaphosa should have dismissed him summarily. Of course neither happened in this failed Banana Repuboic that Ramaphosa reigns over as a tin pot dictator!

Equally disturbing was the sudden, abrupt, lifting of the National State of Disaster regarding electricity, that Ramphosa announced only the other day with so much fanfare. A huge amount of government resources were misappropriated in order to announce the farcical State of National Disaster, and to formulate and proclaim the Regulations, which took extroardinary long, only for it now to be lifted in a jiffy. This farce confirmed what ARETA.- together with other sober commentators - said at the time, namely that the Declaration of the State of National Distaster concerning electricity was entirely unnecessary and indeed total folly. All the effort and money that went into declaring the State of National Disaster was fruitless expenditure, which in itself is criminal. The question that arises is how the State of National Disaster served our nation in any positive/constructive way? We still have the manipulated crisis at Eskom, we still have full-on laodshedding. Dololo has changed! The real concern is what exactly happened during the short-lived period of the State of National Disaster with regards to the procurement processes and tenders that waved the usual compliance regulations. As ARETA we have a strong suspicion that the only purpose that the State of National Disaster served was to facilitate wholesale looting.

ARETA furthermore fails to understand, in the light of the short-lived farce that the National State of Disaster turned out to be, why the position of curiously named Minister of Electricity was ever necessary, accept of course if was to head the looting spree, and to give some semblance of legitimacy and respectability to the thievery and thuggery.

Evidently the only rational thing to do now is to consign the ridiculously non-existent and duplicated portfolio of the Minister of Electricity, together with its illigitimste twin the State of National Disaster regarding electricity, to the garbage bin. The only outrageous reason that can still 'justify' the continuing existence of the Ministry of Electricity, is if that empty shell is still required to tie up some loose ends in order to prevent that what happened during the looting window-period that the State of National Disaster created, become publicly known. Something akin to Godongwana's failed attempt to sweep all the Eskom corruption dirt under the proverbial carpet.

ARETA insists that an urgent Commission of Inquiry must be established in order to investigate the fruitless expenditure related to the entirely unnecessary National State of Emergency regarding electricity, specific attention must be given to what happened with regards to general procurement and tender procurement when the usual stringent requirements have been waved under the National State of Disaster.

Our nation deserves clear and unequivocal answers, and it is the intention of ARETA to ensure that those answers will be forthcoming.

As far as Godongwana's blatant criminal act, of having tried to cover up the the criminal looting at Eskom, is concerned, ARETA is clear that he cannot be trusted at all. The fact that he had to withdraw the illegal and criminal Notice that he published in the Government Gazette surely does not mean that he changed his criminal intent. It is evident that Godongwana will try to come up with a new plan, and try by hook-and-by-crook to find loopholes, to still prevent the annual reports of Eskom from being open to public scrutiny.

Therefore, ARETA gives notice that our Legal Unit has been placed on high alert, and any move by Godongwana to continue with a criminal cover up will be challenged to the hilt.

He can be assured that he, and his fellow crooks, will meet us in court. The message that ARETA delivers is uncompromising: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

We will not allow our future, and the future of the children of our nation to be destroyed by this failed, rogue, dictatorship. The battle is truly on! We will not fail to challenge every one of this rogue regime's criminal acts, and we will not leave any stone unturned to get rid of the Ramaphosa and his sell out acolytes.

There is no other way to save our beloved Nation.

A LUTA CONTINUA!

Issued by Carl Niehaus, Chair of the Working Board, ARETA, 6 April 2023