Parliamentary probe into Eskom starting soon

THE investigation into Eskom by Parliament will get under way later this month with MPs still to decide on the first witnesses to be called. Acting chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises Zukiswa Rantho said yesterday they would meet on July 27 and the hearing would begin on August 1.

She said letters have been sent out to Eskom and she will know tomorrow which members and former members of the power utility have responded.

The committee decided last month to call former chairpersons of the Eskom board, executives and ex-executives to the hearing. These include Ben Ngubane, Zola Tsotsi, Tshediso Matona, Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe.

The committee decided to probe Eskom after its appearance in May where it failed to answer some of the key questions on the reinstatement of Molefe.

Other issues emerged and they related to coal procurement and other problems.

MPs had agreed they wanted the investigation to be completed within a month, but will extend beyond that if the need arose. This is one of several investigations by Parliament into state capture. However, the public enterprises committee decided to launch the investigation into Eskom before Parliament extended it to other committees.

Transport, home affairs and energy committees are also investigating other state-owned entities for state capture.

Rantho said she will be in a position tomorrow to know who has responded to the letters they sent out to Eskom. This is the information that will be given to other MPs in the committee when the committee meets on July 27.