Shocking R19bn theft
R19 BILLION, that’s a whole lot of money by any stretch of the imagination. If this amount was shared with every South African (57.7 million people, according to the latest estimates), every person would get about R330 each.
If your monthly salary is R3 500 (the current minimum wage in South Africa) it would take you just over 452 380 years to earn that amount of money.
Since nobody earning R3 500 a month is going to live that long, it would take 11 309 generations to earn R19bn if each generation worked for 40 years and the minimum wage never increased.
So, how is it possible that Eskom blew R19bn in transactions that were questionable? Did not a single one of Eskom’s 47 600 employees realise that something was amiss? What about the external auditors; R19bn ain’t small change.
It’s all good and well for Parliament to now release a statement expressing concern about the irregular expenditure, but where was the portfolio committee on public enterprises in the last six years when this money was being spent?
We agree that it’s time those guilty of fleecing Eskom were brought to book. But so too should those who should have been on guard when the money was being misspent or stolen. Eskom officials past and present who were connected to the irregular expenditure must be subjected to lifestyle audits, and if need be, criminal investigation.
It is grossly unfair that honest and hard-working taxpayers be made to cough up so a state-owned enterprise can flush money the way it happened at Eskom. Worse is the fact the utility’s bosses have had the gall to continually apply for electricity price hikes. Their audaciousness is purely breathtaking.
We are pleased to hear that new Eskom chairperson Jabu Mabuza is determined to rid it of corruption in all its forms. About 250 cases are being probed, he said.
We urge all Eskom employees as well as members of the public to do what they can to assist in these investigations. South Africans have become tired and completely fedup with graft and the theft of state resources. The money wasted or stolen could be used to help solve real problems such as housing and access to decent services.