MPs to hear of R600m in fees paid to Trillian

Top executives from G9 Consulting and Advisory Services will provide evidence before Parliament’s inquiry into state capture at state-owned entities on what they uncovered in their investigation into payments made by Eskom to Gupta-linked Trillian Capital Partners.

Their testimony on Tuesday is expected to be followed on Wednesday by that of former South African Airways chairwoman Dudu Myeni and next week by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.

Myeni will be interrogated about her role in advising former Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi in March 2015 to remove three senior executives at the power utility. Gigaba will be questioned about his appointment of Guptalinked directors to the Eskom board when he was minister of public enterprises.

Zukiswa Rantho, the chairwoman of the inquiry by the public enterprises committee, wanted to hear what the investigation by G9 Consulting unearthed even though the probe had been terminated before completion.

The G9 investigation related to payments made by Eskom to global consultancy firm McKinsey and Trillian, which received R1.6bn in fees from the power utility between April 2016 and February 2017 for advice on a turnaround strategy.

At the time, Trillian was 60% owned by Gupta business associate Salim Essa.

Newspaper reports in 2017 detailed how G9 Forensic Consulting had produced an interim report, commissioned by Eskom, which highlighted how the power producer ignored the advice of its own legal advisers, who warned it not to enter into an agreement with McKinsey because the proposed revenue model might be illegal.

The report noted that the legal advisers did not approve the service-level agreement proposed by McKinsey.

The investigation found that Eskom had clinched the deal with McKinsey and Trillian without motivating why it had not gone out to tender or asking the National Treasury for approval, as required by law.

Eskom apparently only wrote to the Treasury after the contract had been signed.

The G9 report recommended that charges of fraud and money laundering be filed against directors of Trillian, as well as that former head of capital projects at Eskom Prish Govender, former chief procurement officer Edwin Mabelane and senior procurement manager Charles Kalima be suspended for the role they played in the R600m payments to Trillian.

The G9 report found “prima facie evidence of possible criminal conduct of fraud and/or money laundering” against one or more of Trillian’s directors.

It also recommended that Eskom take civil action to recover some of the money from McKinsey and Trillian.