Graft in Eskom so deep and entrenched it defies comprehension

SEEMINGLY, whenever Eskom’s rot is brought out into the public domain causing a stench, only then do there appear to be power cuts aimed at diffusing the odour.

On Tuesday, the power utility eventually published information related to overpayments amounting to R4 billion. To save face, Eskom claims that “several investigations through law-enforcement agencies are ongoing”. That same night, Eskom announced “load rotation”.

All claims that the overpayments were to Gupta-linked Tegeta were dismissed by the public enterprise minister. Actually, some overpayments went to a company linked to Eskom’s chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, who holds shares in Stefanutti Stocks. A report sent to Parliament on Monday revealed Stefanutti received almost R1bn in overpayment

Former Eskom employees France Hlakudi, a contracts manager, and Abram Masango, a group executive, also allegedly benefited from the illegal overpayments, to the tune of

R75 million and R613m respectively.

Another former executive, Matshela Koko, allegedly awarded an irregular contract to a company, ABB SA, which received an estimated R1bn. Koko’s stepdaughter’s company, Impulse International, is listed as a beneficiary of the overpayments.

Another company, Tenova, was implicated with links to an Eskom project director, employer representative, a senior contracts manager and two contracts managers. The latter both resigned with immediate effect in the face of disciplinary action.

Oberholzer has the audacity and arrogance to reveal to Parliament’s standing committee on appropriations that the overpayments were an “administrative error”.

How can R4bn paid into several smaller chunks, over varied periods and to different companies, be an administrative error? Errors are a oneoff. Not continuously and mysteriously to companies linked to Eskom insiders. Surely there are audit checks and different signatories to prevent

“administrative errors”?

The rot at Eskom is far greater than any sober South African mind can possibly comprehend. Hence the rolling blackouts when such is revealed to blind us, as Eskom’s gravy train plunders its finances.

Unbundling Eskom will allow only for corruption to be done on a smaller-scale than in a wholesale manner. We may be masked, but as taxpaying South Africans, we will not be silent on Eskom’s atrocities against us.