Singh accused of stalling

Suspended Eskom chief financial officer Anoj Singh, pictured, was yesterday told he would be called to testify before parliament’s inquiry into the power utility at a later date.

He had infuriated MPs by submitting 400 pages of documentation less than 24 hours before his scheduled appearance.

“We are not going to engage with you today,” the chairperson of the committee, Zukiswa Rantho, said.

“I want to register our disappointment as a committee, because we have given you enough time.”

Rantho said it was not possible for members of parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises, which is holding the inquiry, to do justice to the information they were given and Singh would, therefore, be called back at a future date.

Democratic Alliance public enterprises spokesperson Natasha Mazzone accused Singh of using delaying tactics and treating the committee with contempt.

“It simply goes to illustrate why we are sitting in this committee. We will see you in January,” she said.

It is understood that Singh sent the documentation to the committee at 11pm on Monday. Rantho said it included documents that the committee requested of him about six months ago.

Singh was suspended at the insistence of Eskom’s lenders after the company was forced in August to retract assurances that there had been no irregular payments to Trillian and McKinsey.

This followed after New Yorkbased management consultancy Oliver Wyman disclosed that it had recommended a legal review of payments totalling R1.6 billion to the two firms. – ANA