Former CEO tells of Eskom battles for tenders

Former Eskom group CEO Tshediso Matona described on Tuesday how the governance and ethical environment at the parastatal had already begun to deteriorate when he took over as CEO in late 2014.

There was also deep infighting within the board led by then chairman Zola Tsotsi over procurement issues, to the extent that it had become almost dysfunctional. Tsotsi is yet to be called as a witness.

Matona, who was Eskom CEO from October 2014 to March 2015, presented evidence to the inquiry by Parliament’s public enterprises committee into allegations of state capture of state-owned enterprises.

Matona was suspended in March 2015 for reasons that he could not understand, but which he surmised were because his continuation as CEO did not fit in with the plans of the board.

He said his suspension by a new board came as a “complete shock” to him.

Matona — who was previously director-general of the departments of trade and industry and of public enterprises and is now secretary of national planning in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation — challenged his suspension both at the Labour Court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but eventually abandoned the case when it became apparent that the board was determined not to take him back.

“I chose to leave that sordid and sorry episode behind me and to continue with my life,” Matona said, noting that his suspension had dealt a mortal blow to trust between himself and the Eskom board. He added that his suspension triggered a downgrade of Eskom by credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings.

The suspension was instituted by a board packed with Gupta-linked members. He was replaced by Brian Molefe, who was later accused of facilitating the award of coal contracts to Gupta-linked companies.