Eskom milked by middlemen 

Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter revealed in his book “Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom” that middlemen and tenderpreneurs cost the power utility billions of rands annually without adding any value.  

One instance highlighted was the case of a company that accounted for R9 billion of Eskom’s five-year budget for fuel oil but served merely as a middleman without adding value. This company was overcharging Eskom, resulting in a significant loss of funds.  

De Ruyter also pointed out several other examples of tenderpreneurs exploiting Eskom, leading to inflated prices for goods and services. He called this the “hidden tenderpreneur tax,” where these middlemen pocket around 30% of every tender without taking any risk or adding real value. 

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