RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE

The secrecy and drama behind former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s speedy exit from South Africa after exposing widespread corruption

- MEGHAN LAWRENCE

A BASEBALL cap, a scraggly beard, a pair of sunglasses. Private security on high alert. A bullet-proof car. An escape into the night.

It sounds like the makings of a spy movie, yet all this and more went down the day André de Ruyter fled the country with little more than the clothes on his back and a suitcase in his hand.

There was so much secrecy and so much tension it almost didn’t feel like real life, a close confidant of the former Eskom CEO says.

The source, who’s speaking to YOU on condition of anonymity, says André had no choice but to flee. He’d upset many people in high places following his e.tv interview in February when he’d made astonishing allegations of deep-seated corruption.

There’d already been an attempt on his life last year when his coffee was laced with cyanide. He’d found a bugging device in his vehicle and he was receiving death threats. He had to get out.

“André called me and said he was going to flee the country and go to America,” the source says. “He asked me to come and see him.”

The De Ruyter family’s life had changed drastically by then and André had appointed private security to protect him and his family. Guards went everywhere with the former Eskom boss, the friend says.

“They were so strict they didn’t even want André to use his own phone anymore – they were worried it would be tracked.”

The source says André also acquired an AK-47-resistant Land Cruiser.