Koko wants commission to act against ‘lying witnesses’
FORMER Eskom executive and acting chief executive Matshela Koko has called on the Zondo Commission to take action against witnesses who lied about his alleged dealings with the infamous Gupta family.
Koko raised serious grievances with the commission yesterday, claiming that many witnesses were allowed to appear before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and lie about his alleged links to the family.
He denied knowing Gupta associate Salim Essa, but claimed it was former Eskom secretary Suzanne Daniels who had email exchanges with Essa. He questioned why the commission’s investigators had not yet seized Daniels’s computer, which, he said, would prove her link to Essa.
Koko told the commission that Daniels “blind copied” Essa in email correspondence between them. He said he had no knowledge that Essa was copied in on the emails, and the commission’s evidence leaders would know this if Daniels’s computer was secured.
Koko also said Daniels lied about the extent of her involvement in corrupt dealings at the parastatal.
“It cannot be that witnesses come here to mislead you and get away with murder. I come here to assist you to get to the truth,” Koko told Zondo.
He said there needed to be consequences for those who lied to the commission.
He accused the commission of protecting Daniels.
Judge Zondo, who took exception to Koko’s remarks, instructed evidence leader advocate Pule Seleka that the commission’s investigators and legal team needed to meet Koko’s lawyers to address his grievances.
He said Koko was allowed to expose witnesses for lying if he had evidence to support his claim.
Koko returned to the stand at the inquiry for the sixth time yesterday, where he was questioned on his alleged role in the questionable R1.6 billion contract paid to McKinsey and Gupta-linked Regiment/Trillian.