Minister no match for Eskom’s tenacious looters
The state-capture project appears to be alive and well and living at Eskom. Brushing aside the fate of a politically weakened President Jacob Zuma, compromised executives are back in charge at the state-owned enterprise. They must take South Africans for fools. The looting of Eskom, orchestrated by the Guptas and willingly assisted by insiders and a supine board, was laid bare by then public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report into state capture and subsequent disclosures such as the Gupta leaks. Now two of the main characters in the state-capture cast have been reinstated — by the board that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown failed to clean out last month. Former CEO Matshela Koko was reinstated after a disciplinary process that appeared designed to exculpate him. And acting group executive for group capital Prish Govender — project leader on the tainted McKinsey contract — has been “exonerated” by a legal opinion that flies in the face of legislation, Eskom’s own policies and three interim reports on malfeasance at the utility.
Brown, who has done little to protect Eskom from predatory interests, passed up the opportunity to install a credible board last month. She made two new appointments, but left other serving members of a dodgy board in place — a move that led to disquiet among local and international lenders. That disquiet can only grow stronger in the face of the reinstatements this week.
Although Zuma and other Gupta allies have been weakened by Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as ANC president, the events at Eskom this week are a reminder that the battle to clean up state-owned enterprises is only just beginning. It would be a mistake to be complacent, in light of the shake-up of the ANC leadership, about the corruption that chokes our public enterprises. We have seen how a sophisticated and well-resourced network worked to siphon billions from the fiscus. We should expect it to fight to keep its access to the riches of the public purse, for as long as it is able.
The events of the week make it clear that a public enterprises minister with integrity and an uncompromised board are good places to start the cleanup.