Electricity company CEO André de Ruyter says his coffee was laced with cyanide: ‘It was an attempted murder’

A South African electricity company executive says he survived an assassination attempt earlier this year when he felt dizzy and nauseous after taking a sip of coffee he claims was laced with cyanide and sodium arsenite.

André de Ruyter, the 54-year-old CEO of Eskom, told the Financial Times Thursday that the poisoning attempt had affected his memory, disrupting his ability to associate simple words like “power plant.”

The alleged attempt on his life came months before de Ruyter went public with allegations of corruption by the ruling African National Congress, the social democratic party that has ruled South Africa since the fall of apartheid in 1994.

De Ruyter told the FT that his toxicologist said “it really was an attempted murder, not just a warning.”

“Cyanide is not like I pull out a gun and shoot you in the leg,” he told the FT.

De Ruyter credits his doctor for saving his life by hooking him up to a vitamin B infusion known to be an effective antidote for cyanide poisoning.

He spoke of ongoing corruption at a company linked to the ruling party and said the government lacked the will to stop bribery and address the country’s energy crisis.

De Ruyter said Eskom has become a target for organized crime syndicates as well as corrupt politicians because of the huge amounts of money it receives from the government and other sources.

“It’s a bit like a Venn diagram,” de Ruyter told the FT.

“There can be pure criminals and pure politicians. And there is also an area in the middle where the interests of both intersect.

Africa’s most developed economy, home to 60 million people, is experiencing its worst power outages in 30 years as Eskom’s aging coal-fired power plants break down frequently.

These problems are largely attributed to years of corruption and mismanagement at the utility under the ruling ANC.

De Ruyter resigned last year and was due to leave at the end of March.

But he was removed from office immediately after an interview with a private TV channel aired Tuesday night in which he accused the ANC and unnamed government ministers of covering up Eskom’s corruption and only being interested in their 2024 re-election hopes.

“They want what will help them win the next election, not what will keep the country going for the next two decades,” de Ruyter said of the ANC.

De Ruyter said Eskom, which is heavily in debt, is losing $50 million a month due to corruption.

Asked by his interviewer if Escom was a “feeder” for the ANC, de Ruyter replied: “I would say that the evidence suggests that it is.”

With mail wires