DA pursues report on Eskom coal

TEGETA Exploration and Resources‚ the mining operation owned by the Gupta family‚ has threatened to interdict the Treasury should it release a report into its investigation of Eskom’s coal contracts.

The Treasury’s chief procurement officer Kenneth Brown conducted an investigation into Eskom’s coal contracts in the first few months of this year‚ the findings of which have never been made public. Brown’s investigation followed a decision by the Treasury to review a number of contracts exceeding R10-million in a crackdown on corruption.

In May‚ DA MP David Maynier requested access to the report under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The Treasury wrote to Tegeta‚ as an affected party‚ informing it about the request.

As the report contained information that could be deemed commercially sensitive‚ Tegeta was given 21 days in which to make representations to the Treasury on whether the report should be released to the public.

Tegeta director Ravindra Nath wrote back in June‚ objecting vehemently to the release of the report to the DA‚ on the grounds that the company had not been afforded an opportunity to comment‚ and had not had sight of the annexures to the report.

The Treasury’s attempt to publish it by providing it to the DA was an attempt at defamation‚ Tegeta argued.

Maynier said on Tuesday he believed Brown’s report had made devastating findings against Tegeta.

“That’s why Tegeta are desperate to keep the report out of the public domain. I’m appealing the decision not to provide me with a copy of the Treasury report. I want Tegeta Exploration and Resources to know this: you can run but you cannot hide.”

Asked on Tuesday why it had objected to the release of the report‚ a Tegeta spokesman said it had offered to participate and provide the Treasury with relevant facts and accurate data at the time of the investigation.

“No response or feedback was ever received from the Treasury regarding Tegeta’s assistance. — BDLive