NUM calls for action on Eskom chief over allegations
ONE of the biggest labour unions organising within Eskom, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said if the latest allegations that Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer improperly used his position are true, he must resign with immediate effect.
The union responded to fresh allegations that Oberholzer negotiated a contract with Stefanutti Stocks, a company which he once worked for and held shares in. It was also alleged that he asked a subordinate to find a job for his brother-in-law without disclosing that he was his close relative.
This was according to an article published by Bloomberg news agency yesterday based on probes commissioned by the power utility company.
The article further alleged that a payment approved by Oberholzer to another contractor was also questioned by an independent counsel in a 15-page report.
Eskom was already under pressure to recoup R4 billion, which was paid to Stefanutti Stocks-Basil Read, Swedish multinational ABB South Africa, and Tubular Construction Projects and Tenova Mining and Minerals SA during the Kusile power project in Mpumalanga.
Speaking to Independent Media after the latest revelations, Livhuwani Mammburu, NUM’s spokesperson, said Eskom has in the past few years lost
billions due to graft and other unethical behaviour by senior staff. He added that Oberholzer, being a senior Eskom official, should lead by example and if not he must just vacate his position.
“If this is true, we expect serious action to be taken against him and if this means that he has to resign, he must do so. As the COO at the power utility, Oberholzer must lead by example and lead in an ethical manner,” Mammburu said.
Mammburu then repeated the call for Oberholzer to go, adding that with such serious allegations it cannot be business as usual for him and his employer Eskom.
“He must resign with immediate effect. Eskom does not need people like him and the company must prove that it is not soft on those who are accused of corruption,” he stressed.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA said it had noted the allegations and would “respond in due course”.
Despite the mounting pressure on Oberholzer, Eskom still stands by him. Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said Bloomberg was rehashing an old story without any basis. Mantshantsha said “there is no basis” to the allegations and two probes had cleared Oberholzer.
He sent Independent Media a statement which Eskom issued on the same matter in April this year. In it, Eskom said the senior counsel it appointed to probe the allegations cleared Oberholzer of corruption, dishonesty and abuse of power.
The utility, meanwhile, introduced stage 2 load shedding from 9am until 10pm over the weekend.
“Despite Eskom’s best efforts to return additional generation units to service after the breakdowns in the week, we have not made sufficient progress to enable us to suspend load shedding,” it said.