JOHANNESBURG - The South African state-owned electricity company, Eskom, is costing an average of $55 million a month in corruption, with the company burdened with debt and unable to produce enough power for the country's energy crisis, the company's former chief executive said on Wednesday.
In a remote interview with a parliamentary committee on public accounts, Andre de Ruyter confirmed his statements on the level of corruption at Eskom in a document he submitted. "This is a conservative estimate based on my assessment of the losses incurred by Eskom that have come to my attention," he said in the document.
One billion rand, the equivalent of $55 million, "is being stolen from Eskom" every month. For months, South Africa's 60 million people have been without power for up to 12 hours a day.
