Eskom graft: MPs warned

THE academics who investigated state capture have warned Parliament about the depths of corruption at Eskom and other state-owned entities and urged law enforcement agencies to act.

Speaking on the first day of the state capture inquiry by the portfolio committee on public enterprises, they warned that frequent changes in the board membership and chief executives at Eskom were disruptive to the power utility’s functioning.

Professor Anton Eberhard of the University of Cape Town said yesterday that Parliament needed to summon Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and Public Enterprises Lynne Brown to explain some of the problems at Eskom.

He said over the past six years there had been grand-scale looting and corruption at Eskom that warranted high levels of investigation by the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks.

The inquiry’s start was welcomed by ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu, who said the party wanted the portfolio committee on public enterprises to get to the bottom of issues.

Meanwhile, US consultancy firm McKinsey announced it would suspend its work with state entities after an internal probe following its work for Eskom.

McKinsey was paid R1 billion for its work and Trillian more than R500 million.

Eberhard warned that the depths of corruption needed to be investigated and said he hoped the NPA was almost done with its work.

Eberhard was part of a team of academics who wrote a book on state capture and detailed the levels of corruption.