Koko pleads not guilty in R1bn contract hearing

SUSPENDED acting Eskom chief executive Matshela Koko has pleaded not guilty to six charges levelled against him by his employer in relation to his failure to declare a conflict of interest‚ saying he had written to and discussed the situation with former Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane.

Koko was suspended based on the recommendations of a forensic report after more than R1-billion in contracts was awarded to a company‚ Impulse International‚ of which his stepdaughter‚ Koketso Choma‚ was a shareholder.

At the time the contracts were awarded‚ Koko was the head of generation at Eskom‚ a department that worked directly with Impulse. After an initial tussle over the charge sheet‚ proceedings in his disciplinary inquiry finally got under way yesterday evening at Megawatt Park.

Advocate Frans Barrie SC‚ representing Koko‚ was determined to ensure the charge sheet his client had been presented with in early August had not changed.

“We confirm that the charge sheet has not been changed and we can proceed‚” Barrie said.

“I can also confirm that my client pleads not guilty on all charges.”

Barrie handed in a written plea in which Koko deals with each charge in detail.

The remaining charges all related to Koko’s alleged failure to fully declare the conflict‚ or act accordingly to mitigate the risk associated with the work Eskom gave to Impulse.