Singh gave guarantee for Gupta-linked firm
ESKOM provided Gupta-owned Tegeta Resources with another R1.6-billion in guarantees, enabling it to purchase the operations of Optimum Holdings and forcing out Glencore.
Eskom previously denied assisting the Gupta family with the transaction. Without external help, Tegeta would never have been able to pay the R2.7billion asking price.
Anoj Singh, Eskom chief financial officer, admitted for the first time on Wednesday that he had personally signed a letter committing Eskom to guaranteeing and standing surety for R1.6-billion on behalf of Tegeta in December 2015.
“The guarantee was issued and cancelled, fortunately. The guarantee was contemplated and then put in place. It then expired. It was not utilised. There was a guarantee,” Singh said.
Tegeta is owned by the Gupta family. The revelation of a guarantee comes on top of a discount on a R2.1-billion fine levied on Glencore-owned Optimum, which was dropped by 88.3% once Tegeta had acquired the company in 2016.
At the time, Tegeta was running short of funds to pay for its controversial R2.7-billion pursuit of Optimum, even after Eskom had given it a R659-million advance payment, which former public protector Thuli Madonsela said “may not be in line with the Public Finance Management Act”.
The Treasury later found the advance to have been illegally used to assist with the acquisition.
In addition to Singh’s admission to have offered the guarantee for the purchase price, Business Day can now reveal that Singh was accompanied by Eric Wood, chief executive of Trillian, on the teleconference call when finalising the negotiations with Absa on Eskom standing surety.
Trillian is owned by Gupta ally Salim Essa.
Leaked e-mails from the Gupta family and their associates show the Guptas were putting pressure on Eskom executives to approve the guarantee so that the transaction could go ahead.
Madonsela also found that former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe had visited the Guptas at their compound and had made many telephone calls to members of the family. The deal went through in April 2016.
Eskom also admitted to paying consulting company Trillian R495-million, without having had any contract, or without any apparent work having been carried out by the start-up. This dwarfs the R266-million reported by Advocate Geoff Budlender two weeks ago and the R400-million estimate given to Business Day by Eskom chairman Zethembe Khoza recently.
Eskom has declined to take any action against Singh or any member of the executive implicated in any of the wrongdoing. — BDLive