Hitched on High
Andi Brands climbed Table Mountain to marry Nigel Carter at the top
ESKOM’S legal engine is cranking up the voltage to recover R16-million from a former executive.
The power utility is embroiled in a legal brawl with Dawid Malherbe, who has lodged a countersuit, in the High Court in Cape Town.
In December, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Malherbe to 20 years in jail for defrauding the parastatal of more than R10-million.
Malherbe, who splurged on luxury cars and seaside homes, was the manager of PN Energy Services, an Eskom subsidiary that built and maintained electrical infrastructure. PN Energy was incorporated into Eskom in 2008 and Malherbe resigned in 2009.
He formed his own company, Energy Utility Services, which fraudulently landed two contracts that yielded a profit of R10.2-million.
Malherbe was convicted of fraud and money laundering after the Bellville court found, among other things, that he misrepresented his company’s BEE status to secure the contracts and misused sensitive information. Malherbe is out on R10 000 bail pending an appeal in the criminal case.
The Eskom lawsuit emanates from a 2011 high court ruling that declared the Energy Utility Services contracts invalid because they were unlawfully procured.
Malherbe admits his company owes Eskom more than R1-million but he is claiming more than R12-million in “contractual obligations”.
However, Eskom said in court papers that PN Energy Services estimated Energy Utility Services had made profits of at least R16.8-million.
Malherbe, who is representing himself in court, declined to comment this week.
The matter was postponed to March 27. HIGH LIFE: Dawid Malherbe outside the High Court in Cape Town
Malherbe was arrested in 2013 after Eskom called in the Hawks. They found that Malherbe had transferred money between accounts to disguise its origin.
He paid R2.5-million via a company for a property at Harbour Island in Gordon’s Bay and R1.3-million for a home in Bellville. He transferred R444 480 from his private bank account into the bond of another beachfront property in Gordon’s Bay.
Malherbe also bought a Toyota Prado for R670 000, an Echo Kavango off-road trailer for R189 250 and transferred R390 160 into his wife’s bank account.
In addition to his other legal woes, Malherbe is fighting a confiscation order lodged by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Eric Ntabazalila, spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape, said Malherbe had been granted leave to appeal against this on February 1. “The AFU application has been held in abeyance pending finalisation of the appeal, but his assets are still under a restraint order,” Ntabazalila said.